Trouble With the Truth Part 2: Time Marches On
by Msmelanie
Summary: Come join the guys as they try to survive their most ultimate mission ever: Surviving life with their families.
1. Are You Sure You're Not Cold?

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
Small note: the colors work the same as they did in the first story. Red=the past, Blue=memories, and black=present. Enjoy!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter One: Are You Sure You're Not Cold?  
  
The story thus far...  
  
The guys decided they wanted to try and have a normal life with their future families. They immediately jumped into the time machine and took off. When they arrived it was nightime at the street the women lived on. Zeches said goodbye to Relena and left. The women promised they would tell the kids about them before they go to bed, so the guys went up to their guestrooms and went to sleep. Early the next morning the guys felt chills running through their bodies. They opened the curtains and saw tons of snow. They were too cold to go to sleep so they went downstairs to start a fire. Now, on with the story...  
  
"Man, these earthlings are nuts! Who would want to stay in this cold place meaningfully!" Duo complained as he warmed up his hands next to the fire.  
  
"Well, there aren't many options in this situation now, Duo." Quatre replied.  
  
"Still, it's freezing! How can Hilde be sleeping in weather like this!" Duo complained some more.  
  
Trowa moved over to a closet next to the staircase and opened it. "There's a blanket in here that may help." he said as he tossed the blanket to Heero.  
  
The guys sat down on the couch and covered up in the blanket.  
  
"How did I end up in this freezing situation..." Duo said while clutching the blanket.  
  
"We wanted to try and live in the future with our families, remember?" Quatre reminded him.  
  
"I wasn't looking for an answer, Quatre." Duo said bitterly.  
  
Soon, the fire was roaring and the pilots were nice and warm. Very nice and warm...  
  
"This must be what earthlings consider 'warm and cozy'. I'm so peaceful right now, I could easily fall asleep..." Quatre said warmly.  
  
"Me, too. Let's just live here from now on." Duo replied as he yawned.  
  
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. They heard footsteps coming down the halls...  
  
The guys immediately got up and moved against the wall. They had been comfortable with the kids and they had known the girls, but today was different. Everyone knew who they really were. Trowa, Heero, and Wufei moved to the middle of the back wall in front of the fire, while Duo and Quatre moved to the sides.  
  
Coming down the stairs was a sleepy Relena in a light-pink robe. Dorothy wore a white robe and slowly tagged behind her yawning, "Geez, this snowstorm really didn't come at a good time..."  
  
The girls didn't even notice the guys as Duo and Quatre fidgeted against the wall until they were only a few feet in front of them.  
  
"Oh!" Relena said as she jumped. She grabbed at her chest and tried breathing slowly. "Please don't make a habit of staying in the shadows like that. I didn't know you guys would be up already." Relena queried, "Did it get too cold for you?"  
  
"Too cold? Of course not!" Duo exclaimed. "We're gundam pilots, we can handle this weather!"  
  
"We simply got used to getting up early." Heero continued in defense.  
  
"We can handle this weather with the greatest of ease." Wufei added.  
  
"Umm, okay...I know it's cold though. The radio said It's only about 10 degrees."  
  
10 degrees!! all the guys thought at once.  
  
"Well, if you're used to it, fine. Mighty nice of you fellas to make a roaring fire and to bring out a warm blanket for us." Dorothy said cunningly. "Come sit down on the couch with me, Miss Relena. It's freezing and apparently the guys aren't using it."  
  
"I'd love to Dorothy, but there is something I must do first." Relena replied as she went downstairs.  
  
Some time later...  
  
The gundam pilots continued to watch Dorothy in the spot they had been so 'warm and cozy' in. Sadly, they didn't have that 'warm and cozy' feeling. In fact, they were getting down right cold...  
  
"Are you sure you guys don't want to sit down? You look a little cold over there." Dorothy commented.  
  
"We're fine! We can handle ourselves!" Wufei shouted, doing his best not to let her hear his teeth chatter.  
  
"Okay, but you might want to think about getting dressed then. Those robes Relena let you borrow aren't very warm." Dorothy commented.  
  
"W-w-we'll get dressed when w-w-we want to." Duo replied. Boy, what I do for my pride.  
  
Just then, Relena came in. She went over to Dorothy and whispered something in her ear. Dorothy whispered something back and Relena left again.  
  
Dorothy continued to torment the guys. "Boy, it sure is nice and cozy over here. So cozy, I could fall asleep."  
  
The guys just glared at her as Relena came back. Relena whispered something to Dorothy again.  
  
"I'm sorry, Miss Relena. Perhaps one of the others know." Dorothy said.  
  
"I suppose." Relena continued. "What time is it?"  
  
"Oh, almost 7:30." Dorothy replied.  
  
"Close enough." Relena replied. "I'll be back, okay?"  
  
"Oh, don't worry Miss Relena. I have to get dressed soon anyways." Dorothy yawned.  
  
The guys all cheered up. If she left, the guys could move by the fire for a few minutes. They all got ready to sprint off for the couch when Dorothy was almost out of sight, but footsteps could be heard that were coming down the stairs. So, the guys had to stay against the wall.  
  
They saw Relena coming down with something in a blanket.  
  
"Hey guys, would you watch this for me until I get back?" Relena asked as she put the item in question on the couch.  
  
"Sure." Heero said.  
  
As Relena took off into another room, they saw the blanket moving.  
  
"That...that blanket's moving!" Duo whispered to Heero.  
  
Suddenly, a little head popped out of it and looked at the guys with eyes half-closed, then it looked away.  
  
"Oh. It's your daughter, Heero." Quatre whispered to Heero.  
  
"Well, why did that onna bring out her daughter?" Wufei asked.  
  
"Maybe she's hoping Heero can get closer to her, sort of like a father." Quatre said.  
  
"No way, that's moving too fast." Duo answered back.  
  
"With Relena, I wouldn't be surpised." grumbled Heero.  
  
Rei stirred again slightly, then looked up at her father.  
  
"Hey, who wants to bet she'll come over to Heero and want to cuddle?" Duo suggested.  
  
Heero ignored him, but the others didn't.  
  
"I'll put down twenty that she won't." Wufei responded. Heero glanced at Wufei.  
  
"I don't know..." replied Quatre. "She did grab him by the knees last time, I'll put down forty she will."  
  
Heero started glaring at Quatre.  
  
"...and Relena is her mother after all, although... Heero's her father... I bet thirty she won't." Trowa responded.  
  
"Thirty Trowa? Isn't that a lot?" Quatre inquired.  
  
"Thirty rich boy, not 30,000." Duo answered, " I bet twenty bucks she will. Care to also make a bet Heero?"  
  
Heero just growled at Duo.  
  
The guys just watched the little girl to see if she would ever move to Heero. You can't see much behind a couch though, and Rei had moved out of sight. Finally, Trowa took it upon himself to look.  
  
"Pay up, she fell asleep." Trowa commented.  
  
Duo fidgeted, "She could still wake up, you know."  
  
Wufei sneered, "Baka, pay up already."  
  
Duo whined but he and Quatre paid the others while Relena came back into the room.  
  
"Hey, guys. Was she much trouble?" Relena asked.  
  
"Yes, she cost me money!" Duo shouted.  
  
"Ssshhhhhhh!!" Relena whispered harshly, "Can't you see she is sleeping?!"  
  
"Well, what did you bring her down here for in the first place?" Heero asked.  
  
"Her bed gets very cold during cold weather, but she doesn't get up without her brother so I have to bring her down here so she can sleep peacefully." Relena explained. "Why? Why did you think I brought her down?"  
  
"No clue." Heero lied.  
  
"Alright, well don't get near the couch, you might wake her up. I need to get going, I'll be back soon." said Relena as she left downstairs again.  
  
"Heero, where does that girl keep going?" Duo asked.  
  
"I don't know." Heero replied.  
  
"Gee, I'm really starting to get cold," commented Quatre, "but I don't think my shirt and vest will be any warmer than this robe."  
  
"Yeah, this robes probably warmer." agreed Duo. He looked over at Heero's daughter. Man I miss that couch...The guys continued to look over by the fire when suddenly they heard feet pounding upstairs.  
  
"What in the world is that?!" Quatre shouted. 


	2. Who's Neo?

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter two: Who's Neo?  
  
. All the guys whipped out the guns they had in their robes and started to run upstairs. They just got upstairs when they heard...  
  
"MICHAEL!!" Hilde shouted, "Michael you-"  
  
"IT'S SNOWING!!" Michael shouted as he ran around the hallway waking everyone up. "Look mommy, it's snowing!" He shouted as he lifted up the curtain in the hall. "It's snowing a lot!"  
  
Dorothy stumbled out of her room, "I tell you Hilde, if you don't get that kid to pipe down I'm gonna-"  
  
"Don't blame me!" Hilde shouted back at Dorothy while pointing at Duo. "It's his fault!"  
  
Duo just looked at her. "What do mean it's my fault?"  
  
"He gets it from you!" Hilde shouted.  
  
"Does not!" Duo shouted back. "I don't act like that, do I guys?"  
  
Heero looked at the ground, Quatre twiddled his fingers, Trowa looked at a wall, and Wufei just continually nodded yes.  
  
Mae Linh and Catherine looked at their watches.  
  
"It's not even eight, Hilde..." Catherine grumbled.  
  
"I know tha-Michael! Don't you dare slide down that-"  
  
It was too late. Michael slid down the stair banister and sprinted to the living room window.  
  
"I wanna see the snow too!" Mingh Loh and Dominic shouted as they started sliding down the banister as well.  
  
Mae Linh and Dorothy looked at Hilde. "It's not my fault, stop looking at me like that!" She said as she moved downstairs after Michael.  
  
Mae Linh and Dorothy went back to bed, along with Jimmy too. It was way too early for them. Little Heero moved downstairs, though. He realized Rei wasn't sleeping in their room, so he knew his mother must've moved her to the couch again. He saw her on the couch with a blanket. I bet Michael woke her up... he growled. He moved next to her on the couch, while the guys came back downstairs.  
  
Not fair...the guys all thought. No Dorothy, and the little girls not sleeping but...now there's not enough room for us. The guys sadly moved back to their spots on the wall.  
  
Relena came back from another doorway with a smile on her face. "I found them! Oh, Heero I need to talk to you."  
  
Heero and Heero moved toward her.  
  
"I was talking about my son Heero, Heero." Relena replied. Heero moved back to the wall.  
  
"Honey, I was wondering if you would do mommy the biggest favor?" Relena asked.  
  
Little Heero nodded his head yes.  
  
"Wonderful!" Relena exclaimed. "Do you mind if we start calling you Junior?"  
  
Little Heero made a sour face.  
  
"Well, what do want to be called then?" asked Relena.  
  
Dominic interrupted. "Heero gets to change his name? Neato!"  
  
"Neato?" Rei replied looking at little Heero.  
  
"No." Heero replied.  
  
"Take out the 'a-t'." Rei recommended. Everyone just looked at the two children.  
  
"What are they talking about?" Duo asked Heero. Heero shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Fine." little Heero agreed. "I will be called Neo."  
  
"Wonderful, honey. We'll call you that from now on. I will be right back, okay?" Relena told Neo.  
  
"You're girlfriend's taking off again, Heero." Duo commented. "Do you have any clue where she is going to this time?  
  
Heero just ignored Duo.  
  
Michael came back from looking at the snow through the living room window and went over to the couch. He noticed Duo wasn't looking very warm. "Hey, you wanna come sit down, Duo?" Michael asked him.  
  
Duo had a big smile on his face, but looked at the other guys. They all had don't-you-dare-leave-us-or-will-kill-you looks in their eyes.  
  
"You know, I'm fine right here kid." Duo sadly declined.  
  
Dominic and Mingh Loh noticed Michael sitting down on the couch and decided to come over.  
  
"Michael?" Dominic inquired looking at their fathers. "Those guys look like their freezing."  
  
Michael shook his head. "Yeah, I know. Duo says their fine though."  
  
Dominic noticed the couch. "Michael, maybe he didn't want to leave the others behind? There's not enough room on the couch."  
  
Michael looked at the couch he was sitting on. "Well, yeah maybe..."  
  
"Hey!" Dominic called out to the guys. "If you guys want to sit down we can extend the couch for you!"  
  
The guys all looked at him in confusement.  
  
Michael jumped off the couch and grabbed one end of the couch while Dominic grabbed the other end of the couch. The couch became shorter in height, but a lot longer in length.  
  
The guys started moving towards the couch, but they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Before they knew it Jimmy, Mae Linh, Dorothy and Catherine sat down on the couch. Hilde saw them and sat down to talk to them.  
  
Dominic watches as the guys move to their spot on the wall again with a dissapointed face. He awkwardly smiles and mouths the word 'sorry'.  
  
Duo starts grumbling about the cold. "This is so lame. Why do earthlings like this weather?"  
  
Relena enters the room with a laundry basket full of clothes. "Hey, guys. Let me introduce you to something us earthlings like to call 'sweaters'."  
  
She handed woolen-knitted sweaters to each of the guys. "I have been looking for these all morning. They were very hard to find, I was beginning to think they 'd be outside in the church."  
  
The guys just looked at their sweaters. Heero had a green sweater in fairly good condition. Wufei took the plain tan sweater, while Trowa took a beautiful old blue sweater. Quatre took a burgundy sweater while Duo got stuck with the last sweater.  
  
"What's this red 'VFMD' doing on this old thing?" Duo asked as he held up his old sweater.  
  
Relena laughed. "Those are all my fathers old sweaters. That one I made for him when I was young. It stood for Vice Foreign Minister Dorlain. He loved wearing that sweater."  
  
The guys all went upstairs to put their old sweaters on. Old or not, the sweaters felt a lot warmer than the cold robes. When the guys came back down they heard Relena talking.  
  
"It looks like we need a bigger couch. Neo? Will you, Dominic, Michael, and Mingh Loh bring out the spare couches?" Relena asked her son.  
  
"B-but it's cold!" Michael started to whine, while Dominic acted like he didn't hear his Aunt Relena.  
  
Neo grabbed the both of them by their pajama necks and dragged them upstairs to get dressed while they continued to protest.  
  
"Thank you, children!" Relena shouted after them. Then she grabbed Rei and took her upstairs to get dressed as well.  
  
A little time passes...  
  
Mingh Loh comes down all bundled up in her coat, while all the other kids are just wearing sweaters. They all head for the front door.  
  
"Hold it!" Hilde shouts before they can turn the handle. "You are not going out wearing only that!" she scolds. Hilde pushes them up the stairs and scolds them some more.  
  
Mingh Loh and Mae Linh just laugh together.  
  
"That's the brains of an Otoko for you!" Mingh Loh said.  
  
"Isn't that the truth!" her mother laughs back.  
  
Suddenly, Wufei knew he had heard that laugh before. That vicious laugh. It was on the tip of his tongue, but before he could remember Neo, Michael, and Dominic came back downstairs. They were all bundled up in their coats and scarves.  
  
"No playing in the snow, Dominic." Dorothy warned.  
  
Dominic nodded a forced yes and took off with the others.  
  
Hilde stood by the window to watch them. "Don't kick the snow, Michael!" Hilde scolded. 


	3. Betrayal With a Cup of Cocoa

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter three: Betrayal with a Cup of Cocoa.  
  
"Don't kick the snow, Michael!" Michael said as he mocked his mothers voice. "Hey Heero, do we really start calling you Neo now?"  
  
"Yes." Neo replied.  
  
"Okay. That's a cool name, but still not as cool as mine though." Michael said proudly, picking up some snow to throw at Mingh Loh.  
  
"No snowballs!" Michael heard his mother say before he could throw it. Although, when Mingh Loh heard Michael's mother, she dodged, picked up a snow ball and threw it at Michael.  
  
"Ha! Strike!" she said proudly.  
  
Back inside the house...  
  
"Dang it. Linh, your daughter's throwing snowballs." Hilde said.  
  
"Did she hit Michael?" Mae Linh asked curiously.  
  
"Yes, but that's not the point!" Hilde remarked.  
  
"That's my girl!" Mae Linh said proudly.  
  
Hilde sighed and looked out the window. A free-for-all snowball fight was in full swing. Neo was dodging Mingh Loh's attempts to hit him, while simultaneously hitting Michael and Dominic. Dominic was trying to hit Michael, but Michael was still trying to get Mingh Loh.  
  
"Hey!" she yelled. All the kids froze in their tracks, then they ran to the church.  
  
"We're going mom, yeesh!" Michael shouted back at Hilde.  
  
Relena came back down with Rei. "What's going on?" she asked.  
  
"S.b.f." Hilde simply said.  
  
"Uhh...huh." Relena commented. "My son involved?"  
  
"More than Michael was." Hilde replied.  
  
"Did Mingh Loh nail Neo?" Mae Linh asked hopefully.  
  
"Yeah, right." Relena said sarcastically.  
  
"Of course she didn't." Hilde said in response to Mae Linh's question.  
  
"Well, one day she will nail that otoko, you just wait." Mae Linh said proudly.  
  
Soon the kids came running back from the church. Neo and Mingh Loh were holding up a small couch while Dominic and Michael each carried a la-Z-boy recliner over their heads. They ran to the door of the house and Hilde let them in. "Here you go, Aunt Relena." Dominic said as he came through the door.  
  
"Over by the fire." Relena requested. The kids sat them down and she motioned for the guys to all take a seat.  
  
They happily obeyed as Trowa, Wufei, and Heero sat in the small couch while Duo and Quatre took the recliners. The guys finally started to retrieve that warm and cozy feeling by the fire.  
  
"We'll go to the city soon," commented Relena, "and get you some winter clothes, but it's too dangerous right now. It'll take some time before the roads will be decent."  
  
Dominic walked up to his mom. "Can I have some hot chocolate?"  
  
All the kids looked at Dorothy for an answer. Dorothy looked questioningly at the others.  
  
"One cup, we have to go shopping soon for more." replied Dorothy.  
  
The kids all cheered and followed Dorothy to the kitchen.  
  
Duo whispered to Quatre. "What's hot chocolate?"  
  
Quatre shrugged. "I don't know. Chocolate... that's hot?"  
  
"Wouldn't that be really sticky?" Duo asked again.  
  
Trowa shook his head no. "It's some sort of earthling drink."  
  
Duo looked back at Trowa. "It's a drink, you sure?"  
  
Trowa looked back at Duo. "I think so, Heero?"  
  
"I never planned on doing earth missions during the winter season, so I didn't do much research on winter activities." replied Heero.  
  
Then Quatre jumped as Dominic shoved a steamy drink in front of him.  
  
Dominic smiled at Quatre. "It's nice to know you didn't blow up with the colonies. Where do you plan on staying now?"  
  
Quatre laughed nervously. "...Dorothy didn't tell you last night?"  
  
"Tell me what?" Dominic angelically smiled back.  
  
Quatre laughed nervously again. "D-d-dorothy...D-dorothy?!"  
  
"What?" Dorothy asked as she stepped out of the kitchen.  
  
Quatre looked at her."You...didn't tell him?"  
  
Dorothy just looked away from Quatre. "I thought...you should."  
  
Quatre continued looking nervously at Dorothy. "ummm...no, you can."  
  
"Tell me what?" Dominic angelically smiled back.  
  
"Well, that dude's your dad!" Michael shouted as he ran out of the kitchen and up to Dominic.  
  
"Michael!" Hilde scolded as she came out of the kitchen. "I told you not to say anything to Dominic yet!"  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot!" Michael said as he stuck his hand behind his head. "Sorry!"  
  
Poor Dominic just looked stunned. There was nothing he could think of to say.  
  
Quatre just looked at Dominic's hot chocolate, at his hand, the fireplace, a photo, the wall...  
  
Duo got up and hit Quatre's shoulder. "Say something!" he whispered in Quatre's ear.  
  
Quatre just looked at Duo. "D-duo, I..."  
  
"Is it true?" Dominic asked.  
  
Quatre slowly nodded his head yes. Dominic just stared at Quatre. Quatre just stared at Dominic.  
  
"..."  
  
"You mean your mother didn't tell you?" Mingh Loh said as she came out of the kitchen, interrupting the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"You knew?!" Dominic shouted at Mingh Loh.  
  
"Of course, mother told me last night. Everyone knows." Mingh Loh said haphazardly.  
  
The inheritance of Dorothy's personality could be seen in Dominic's eyes just before he spilled his hot chocolate all over Quatre and ran out the door. Dorothy called out his name as she sprinted out right after him.  
  
"Why?" Quatre asked. "Why did he take it so bad? The others didn't."  
  
"The kinder a heart is, the worser it takes betrayal." Trowa responded.  
  
"I didn't betray him!" Quatre shouted.  
  
"You didn't tell him and Dorothy didn't tell him. If that's not betrayal, what is?" Heero responded quietly.  
  
Quatre seethed at the question.  
  
"Don't. Don't start fighting. Dorothy was in the wrong, not Quatre." Hilde explained. "We all told the kids last night, but Dorothy wouldn't tell Dominic. She didn't want to expose her past, and talking about Quatre would definitely open up that door. She told me to keep Michael quiet until she could figure out what to say."  
  
"Stupid Otoko!" Mingh Loh shouted at Michael. "Don't you show your mother any honor!"  
  
"I forgot!" Michael said in his defense. "Besides, your the one that made him mad!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did too!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did too!"  
  
"Kids, quiet!" Relena shouted. Relena gave a nasty look at Hilde for not telling her about Dorothy's decision. "Dominic'll be fine. Now, drink your cocoa."  
  
"What's cocoa?" Duo asked.  
  
"It's this." Hilde replied as she pointed to her cup.  
  
"I thought that was hot chocolate?" Duo replied confused.  
  
"It is." Hilde replied.  
  
"But, you said that's cocoa." Duo replied really confused.  
  
"Duo!" Hilde laughed. "It goes under cocoa, hot cocoa, hot chocolate...whatever your preference. Want some? It's really good!"  
  
"If it's good, then yeah I'll take some!" Duo responded. Duo went into the kitchen with Hilde.  
  
Heero slightly turned his head to watch Duo enter the kitchen. When he turned back around he saw his son Neo sitting on his lap. Heero was shocked, he didn't even feel his son get on his lap.  
  
Neo glared at Heero. "Is it true you tried to assassinate my mom multiple times?"  
  
Heero just looked back at Neo. "Sort of."  
  
"Sort of!" Quatre shouted. "Yeah, right!" Quatre's not very cheery at this time with Heero. "You tried to shoot down her shuttle and-"  
  
"-and don't forget on the docks!" Duo interrupted as he came from the kitchen. "I had to save her from you, you know!" He took a drink of his cocoa. "Hey, this is pretty good!"  
  
"The school party too..." Trowa continued.  
  
"A conference too. You were waiting in a balcony, weren't you?" added Wufei.  
  
Heero glared back and forth at whoever was talking. This wasn't putting Neo in a good mood.  
  
"Neo, why are you sitting on Heero's lap?" Relena asked as she came out of the kitchen.  
  
"I wanted an answer to a question. Do we have any more cocoa left?" Neo asked sweetly.  
  
"Of course sweetie, help yourself." Relena replied.  
  
Neo smiled at his mother as she went back into the kitchen.  
  
"Sweetie, are you coming?" Relena shouted from the kitchen.  
  
"Be right there!" Neo shouted. Then he grabbed Heero's turtleneck and harshly whispered, "You try and hurt my mom again and I'll destroy you." He looked towards the kitchen as he let go of Heero and shouted, "Coming mommy!" as he hopped off of Heero's lap.  
  
Heero looked stunned at what his son had just said to him.  
  
"Wow. That kid really does take after you, don't he?" Duo asked Heero.  
  
Heero didn't respond. 


	4. The Angel of the Family

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter four: The Angel of the Family.  
  
A little while later Dorothy came through the door with Dominic. He looked a lot happier.  
  
"So, did you explain?" Hilde asked Dorothy.  
  
"Yes. He took it better than I expected." Dorothy said as she looked down at her son who was smiling back at her.  
  
"I don't get it. What was so bad about his mom's past, mommy?" Michael asked.  
  
"Not now, Michael." Hilde responded.  
  
"She must have had a bad past." Mingh Loh stated. "Not like my mom's. Hers was really funny with my father's!"  
  
"What?!" Wufei shouted. "You told her how you knew me and you refuse to tell me?!"  
  
Mae Linh laughed. "Calm down, 'mighty Chang', You'll remember eventually." Then it'll hit you like a ton of bricks! She smiled back at Wufei. Wufei frowned while Mingh Loh just laughed.  
  
Dominic came over to Quatre and looked at him. "Do you still have the wound?" Dominic asked.  
  
Quatre nodded his head yes.  
  
Dominic looked up at him. "Mommy didn't hate you. You just got in her way at the wrong time."  
  
"It's okay, I understand better than you think." Quatre replied.  
  
Dominic shuffled his feet. "I'm sorry about the hot chocolate."  
  
"It's fine, really Dominic." insisted Quatre  
  
Dorothy laughed at the angelic smile Dominic gave to Quatre. "Sometimes I wonder if I should have named him after an angel too when he looks like that."  
  
"An angel?" Quatre asked curiously. "Who was named after an angel?"  
  
Dorothy looked at Quatre. "What, you didn't know? You'd be surprised, believe me."  
  
Michael grinned widely when Dorothy looked at him.  
  
Duo looked at Michael's grin and splurted out his hot chocolate. "What?! You mean Hilde named you after an angel?"  
  
Hilde laughed. "I couldn't help it, Duo! I mean, I loved that movie Michael, and when I found out you were the father, I thought naming the 'God of Death's kid after an angel would be great!"  
  
"Yeah, I really fit the part too, don't I?" Michael laughed.  
  
Time passed on and the pilots were starting to feel more comfortable with their new environment. Everyone took some time to get dressed if they hadn't yet, and the girls let the kids play around the house while they talked with the guys. They explained in a little more detail why they stopped moving and stuck to the same neighborhood. It made sense when they explained that Catherine's old circus sort of 'found' them some time ago.  
  
"Found you?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Yes, a complete accident but... I guess it was fortunate." Relena answered. "They provide a safe neighborhood for us while we provide...additional funding."  
  
"Sounds more like blackmail." Heero replied.  
  
"It doesn't matter. At least we're safe for now." Dorothy replied.  
  
"Don't circuses move around though?" Duo asked.  
  
"This is probably their main base." replied Trowa. "Whenever someone couldn't travel, this is where they would stay."  
  
"That's pretty much it in a nutshell." Hilde responded.  
  
"How do you feel about this Catherine?" Trowa asked.  
  
"Oh, look Relena. The streets are becoming cleaner now. You want to get our shopping done before it gets later?" Catherine said as she went up to the window. "I mean, it's almost noon."  
  
"Yes! yes!" all the kids shouted as they came downstairs.  
  
Relena looked back at Catherine. "Well, we are running short on supplies...and it is almost Christmas...ookay, I suppose. You guys want to come?"  
  
"Well, gee let me think." Duo said. "Get out of this house that we've been trapped in all day or go out and finally get some fresh air?"  
  
"Duo, don't be sarcastic." Hilde replied.  
  
"What are we getting?" Duo asked her.  
  
"Well for starters, you guys need some winter clothes." Hilde replied.  
  
"Correct." said Dorothy. "Plus, the kids'll need new clothes also. They're outgrowing their old ones already."  
  
"Let me grab my purse and I'll be right there." Catherine said as she went upstairs. Relena followed her upstairs.  
  
"What?" Catherine asked.  
  
"You haven't said anything to Trowa all day long." Relena replied.  
  
Catherine looked down at her feet. "Well, what am I supposed to say? 'Oh nice day, huh Trowa? Isn't this lovely weather we're having today? Oh, by the way, your son really needs guidance from you as a loving father. Don't forget that okay, little brother'?"  
  
Relena looked at her. "I know it's different, but we'll just have to get used to it."  
  
"I know." Catherine replied. "He's supposed to be my little brother though...not the father of my child. He should be the Uncle, not the Dad!"  
  
"I know your situations a little different, but if you give yourself time, you will get used to it." Relena replied sympathetically.  
  
"It's not fair." Catherine replied. "Do you think Trowa would believe me if I said Michael's was his instead? Hilde wouldn't mind, I'm sure!"  
  
Relena laughed. "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't, but you couldn't pull that off!"  
  
Catherine sighed. "Yeah, I know."  
  
"You should really talk to him while we're out, okay?" Relena replied.  
  
"Umm...I...doubt if I'll have enough time."Catherine muttered.  
  
Relena smiled cunningly. I'll make sure you will. We'll all have time, don't worry. "Oh, gee! We'll need both the vehicles, won't we?"  
  
"I suppose so. You want to drive?" Catherine asked.  
  
"No, let's make Hilde drive." Relena replied. 


	5. Distracting Distractions

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter five: Distracting Distractions.  
  
"Hilde! you're driving!" Catherine and Relena shouted together.  
  
"Whyy?!" Hilde whined . "It's not fair." She let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh well...kids, head for the van!"  
  
All the kids ran out the door.  
  
"Careful on that ice, Michael!" Hilde shouted.  
  
The girls came downstairs, while Relena dangled some extra keys on her finger. "Which one of you wants to drive?"  
  
"We won't all fit in one?" Duo asked.  
  
"Are you kidding? You'll barely fit into your car." Mae Linh replied.  
  
"Yes, one of you must come with us." Dorothy said.  
  
The guys all looked at each other.  
  
"Duo, you're the best with the kids." Quatre stated.  
  
"Not that good!" replied Duo. "You should spend more time with your son."  
  
"Not that much!" Quatre replied. "Heero should, he's got two of the kids."  
  
"What's that matter!" Heero shouted back.  
  
The guys continued to argue back and forth.  
  
Dorothy got tired of the constant bickering. "Be quiet! I'll do eenie meenie minie moe then!"  
  
A few seconds after the victim was chosen...  
  
"Wufei, will you hurry it up! You otokos really take too long!" Mae Linh shouted out.  
  
Wufei stepped into the huge light-green van with the already bickering children. Why me?  
  
The guys went out to the little red car they were supposed to drive.  
  
HOOONK! "Any time you're ready fellas!" Hilde shouted.  
  
Quatre and Trowa took the back seat and Duo took the front seat while Heero drove. Once they backed out of the driveway they followed the girls.  
  
"Wow, this car moves so nice and quiet, I could fall asleep." Duo commented.  
  
"I agree." said Trowa. "It's so smooth, you could work on a laptop easily."  
  
Duo stretched as he began to yawn. "How do you think Wufei's ride is going?"  
  
To Wufei's ride...  
  
"You meanie, give that back!" Dominic shouted  
  
"No, it's mine!" Mingh Loh shouted.  
  
"Is not!" Dominic shouted back.  
  
"Is too!" Mingh Loh shouted again.  
  
"I'm hungry, mom!" Michael moaned.  
  
"Are we there yet?" Dominic asked.  
  
"You already moved that piece!" Rei shouted  
  
"Didn't!" Neo shouted back.  
  
"Did too!" Rei shouted back again.  
  
"Kids, will you please be quiet!" Catherine scolded. "We're getting closer."  
  
Wufei just sat silent, although he secretly wished he could've threatened them with his katana. "Oh, I miss you Katana."  
  
"Do you still have that old katana?" Mae Linh asked.  
  
Wufei just ignored her question.  
  
Sometime later...  
  
"Ooh! Look at all the lights!" Michael shouted.  
  
"No! Look at all the greenery!" Dominic shouted.  
  
"No, look! Look! A Pizza Hut!" Mae Linh shouted also.  
  
"Children settle down." Relena said calmly. "We're pulling into the parking lot now."  
  
Back to the guys' car...  
  
"That's your turn, Heero." Duo said.  
  
Heero turned and parked in a stall next to the girls' huge vehicle. The girls got out when they saw the guys and filed the kids out.  
  
"Alright, Miss Relena. What shall we do first?" Dorothy asked.  
  
Relena smiled. "Heero, Rei, Neo, and I will go for the food on this list." Then she moved to Duo. "You, Hilde and Michael will go after the supplies on this list. She moved to Quatre and handed him a list. "You, Dorothy, and Dominic will get the food on this list." Then she moved to Wufei. "You, Mae Linh, and Mingh Loh can get the clothes on this list and..." she moved to Trowa and handed him her last list. "You take Catherine and Jimmy and get the clothes on this list."  
  
Then she moved toward her family. "At 2:00 we meet back here and get the-"  
  
"Christmas Tree!" the kids shouted. Relena nodded her head yes.  
  
Heero motioned to his comrades to come over.  
  
"It sounds like we've been separated out." Quatre commented.  
  
"Yes, so all of you be extremely careful." Heero warned. "This is a perfect time for the scientists to strike."  
  
"Agreed." confirmed Trowa. "Don't get too distracted."  
  
"Be very careful." Heero warned again. "Confirm anything suspicious and you act, understand?"  
  
The other guys shook their heads yes.  
  
"Are you guys done talking yet?" Hilde shouted out to them. The guys broke apart their conversation and followed their families into the store.  
  
To Heero's family...  
  
"Come, Heero. Right is where we'll find the food on this list." Relena ordered.  
  
Heero followed Relena and his children. He noticed his son Neo still eyeing him suspiciously.  
  
"Something going on between you two?" Relena asked as she watched her son glaring at Heero.  
  
"No, mommy. Everything's fine, right...dad?" Neo said sarcastically.  
  
Heero didn't respond.  
  
To Quatre's loving family...  
  
"This kind mommy?" Dominic asked as he held up a brand of cereal.  
  
"Yes, put that in the cart." Dorothy answered. "Quatre, grab that jar of pickles behind you."  
  
Quatre wasn't listening though. He was watching very closely for anything that looked suspicious, and right then he was focused on watching the people moving back and forth.  
  
"Ooh, Quatre..." Dorothy called out a little louder again.  
  
How can I tell what's suspicious when there's too many people to be suspicious of? Quatre wondered.  
  
"Hey-Father-of-my-child!" Dorothy yelled.  
  
That caught Quatre's attention. "Huh?! What?"  
  
"Grab those pickles behind you." Dorothy ordered. "I can't believe you get so distracted by people."  
  
"I'm just watching out." Quatre replied as he grabbed a jar of pickles.  
  
"Oh?" Dorothy replied sarcastically. "You think the scientists are going to nab Dominic in a supermarket?"  
  
"Maybe." Quatre replied softly. Dominic just giggled at his father.  
  
To Trowa's...family?  
  
"Perhaps a blue and white sweater, Jimmy?" Catherine asked.  
  
Jimmy shook his head yes.  
  
Trowa looked at Catherine and tried talking to her. "Maybe a red sweater would look good on you, Cathy."  
  
"Uuhh..." Catherine muttered. "Jimmy, do you want to look at those sweaters?" Catherine asked as she pointed to a stack of sweaters.  
  
Jimmy shook his head no and picked up the blue and white sweater his mom recommended.  
  
She's ignoring me still thought Trowa. What can I do?  
  
"Jimmy?" Trowa remarked. "If you like that sweater, go try it on."  
  
Jimmy shook his head yes and went into a dressing room that was near him.  
  
Catherine fidgeted while Trowa looked at her.  
  
"What?" she finally said.  
  
"Talk to me. Are you okay?" Trowa asked.  
  
"I'm fine. It's just...different, that's all." Catherine said.  
  
"We'll get used to it." Trowa replied. "Until then, don't shut me out."  
  
Catherine didn't respond.  
  
To Wufei's family...  
  
"Mingh Loh, you have to pick a sweater that's not blue or red." Mae Linh scolded. Her daughter always loved red and blue, and she hardly had any clothes that weren't those colors.  
  
Mingh Loh continued to look. "This is nice and it's almost black." Mingh Loh replied as she pulled out another sweater from a rack.  
  
"That's midnight blue." Her mother responded. "No more blue."  
  
"What about this?" Mingh Loh asked as she held up another sweater. "It's burgundy."  
  
"It's still red." replied her mother.  
  
Wufei just looked around at the shoppers, but mostly an old man hanging out by the oranges and a young woman hanging out by the grapes.  
  
"Wufei, pay attention!" Mae Linh scolded.  
  
Wufei didn't hear her. It doesn't take ten minutes to pick out an orange...  
  
"Wufei, can you even hear me?" Mae Linh asked.  
  
"Uh-huh." Wufei replied.  
  
"You have a funny way of showing it." Mae Linh said. "What was the number of the block we parked in?" she asked.  
  
"Uh-huh." Wufei replied. He is still over there...and why it that onna still over by the grapes?  
  
Mae Linh realized Wufei hadn't been paying attention at all. He'll just have to learn the hard way. "Wufei, I'm leaving to find the vehicles, watch Mingh Loh."  
  
"Uh-huh." Wufei replied.  
  
"By the way, you smell..." Mae Linh began.  
  
"Uh-huh." replied Wufei.  
  
Mae Linh continued. "You're very ugly, you're gutless, and I'm going to buy you a pink shirt. Hot pink. Would you like a hot pink shirt, honey?"  
  
"Uh-huh." Wufei replied.  
  
"Honey, I have to go find a hot pink shirt for your father and then I will find the vehicles." Mae Linh said to Mingh Loh as she walked away.  
  
Mingh Loh looked up at her father. "Wufei?"  
  
Wufei still couldn't hear. The old man's finally leaving...and he never even grabbed an orange.  
  
"Father?" Mingh Loh tried again.  
  
Wufei still wouldn't reply. Could the scientists be masquerading as someone else?  
  
"Dad?" Mingh Loh tried again.  
  
Wufei kept looking at the woman by the grapes. Or could they have hired someone?  
  
"Daddy?" Mingh Loh said as she pulled on Wufei's arm.  
  
"What?" Wufei responded, only half paying attention.  
  
"May I have these sweaters?" Mingh Loh asked as she held up the brightest blue and red sweater she could find.  
  
"Go ahead." Wufei replied.  
  
"Thank you daddy." Mingh Loh replied with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Uh-huh." Wufei replied.  
  
"Wow, Mingh Loh! You called Wufei daddy!" Michael said intrigued.  
  
"Where'd you come from?" Mingh Loh asked surprised.  
  
"I snuck away. You can call your father daddy?" Michael asked again.  
  
"Apparently, it's all he responds to. Besides, have you ever heard of a kid who calls their fathers by their first names besides us?" Mae Linh responded.  
  
"Well, I guess not." Michael replied. "I have to remember that. I got to go before I get into more trouble." Michael replied as he started walking toward the appliance section.  
  
To Duo...by himself?  
  
Oh, geez. If I don't find Michael, Hilde's gonna kill me! Duo thought to himself as he continued to look through the isles. Geez, if only I was paying attention!  
  
Duo moved up and down through the isles. I can hear her now... Duo thought. 'I leave you alone for one minute and you go and lose your only son!'  
  
Duo turned down an isle with blenders and spotted Michael. "Michael! Where did you go?"  
  
"Nowhere." Michael lied.  
  
"Oh, if your mother finds out..." Duo replied.  
  
"Well, I can keep it a secret if you buy me some candy. Then neither of us will be in trouble!" Michael replied.  
  
Duo thought. How come I get the feeling I'm getting the short end of this stick...  
  
Back at the parking lot...  
  
"Stay here with the kids, Heero. I forgot something back on the list." Relena replied as she went back into the mall.  
  
Heero wasn't paying attention. He was on the lookout.  
  
Neo just looked at his father. He's so clueless.  
  
Rei moved up closer to Heero and jumped on the ground to capture his attention. No good.  
  
I haven't seen anything. Why hadn't the scientists shown up? Heero thought.  
  
Rei tried to grab her fathers hand, but Neo slapped it away.  
  
"Don't." warned Neo.  
  
Rei looked defiantly at her brother and grabbed Heero's hand again. Heero didn't even realize what was going on.  
  
"Their not coming." Heero said as he realized Rei was holding his hand.  
  
"Heero!" Trowa called out softly as his family moved toward Heero's family. "Have the others arrived yet?"  
  
"No." Heero replied.  
  
"We're here!" Hilde shouted at the others as Duo and Michael came strolling up to them. "Where's Relena?" Hilde asked.  
  
"She forgot something." Heero said as he tried to shake his daughters fingers off his hands.  
  
"I'm here." Mae Linh said as she walked up to everyone by herself.  
  
"Where's your family?" Hilde asked Mae Linh.  
  
"Oh, I told Wufei I was leaving, that he smelled, and that I would buy him a pink shirt!" Mae Linh replied. "He said 'uh-huh'."  
  
"Wasn't paying attention?" Dorothy asked as her family came trouncing up to the others. "Neither was Mr. Winner very much."  
  
"Well, we were on lookout, right Heero?" Quatre answered.  
  
"Yes." Heero said as he continued to get away from Rei's grasp.  
  
"Onna!" Wufei shouted as he and Mingh Loh ran up to everyone. "What's the big idea leaving me behind?"  
  
"You said it was fine." Mingh Loh replied. "I also bought the pink sweater I promised you."  
  
Duo started laughing. "Man, Wufei! I didn't know you liked that color! Just when you think you know a guy!"  
  
Wufei just sneered at Duo and Mae Linh.  
  
Mae Linh giggled. "Don't take it so hard Chang, it was just a joke! Boy, you really haven't changed much, have you?" Wufei just continued to sneer.  
  
"Alright, I'm back!" Relena shouted. "Let's get in the vehicles and go get- "  
  
"The Christmas tree!" all the kids shouted. 


	6. Lies and Punishment Go Hand in Hand

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Six: Lies and Punishment Go Hand-in-Hand.  
  
The kids hopped into the car first, everyone except Rei.  
  
"Relena?" Heero asked Relena. "Could you get your daughter off my hand?"  
  
Relena looked down at her daughter and saw her lightly holding Heero's hand. "It doesn't look like she's holding on that tight, Heero."  
  
"Looks are deceiving." Heero said as he tried shaking her off his hand again, but Rei continued to cling on.  
  
"Perhaps she'll let go if you ride with her instead of me?" Wufei recommended.  
  
Heero glared at Wufei, but Rei looked at her mommy. She shined the sweetest sad smile she could show her mother. "Please?"  
  
Heero looked at Relena and shook his head no. Relena looked down at Heero's hand. "She really wants to ride with you, Heero. Please?"  
  
Heero shook his head no again.  
  
Duo came walking up to Heero and Relena. I know this is stupid, but it'll be fun to torture Heero so..."You know what?" Duo began. "I'll take Rei's place in the girls vehicle, and Rei can have mine."  
  
Heero just glared at Duo as he hopped into the girls' vehicle.  
  
Relena just smiled as the girls got into their vehicle along with Wufei.  
  
"Heero, let's go now." Trowa ordered.  
  
Heero moved to the red car the guys were driving. Quatre and Trowa got in the back, while Heero tried to get in the front. That was easier said than done though.  
  
"You have to let go of my hand to get into the car." Heero tried explaining to Rei.  
  
Rei shook her head no and got into the driver's seat on the driver's side door. She crawled over to the passenger seat, pulling Heero behind her. Before Heero knew it, he was in the driver's seat with his daughter next to him. Rei flashed a simple grin that seemed to say I-told-you-so while Heero started to drive off the lot.  
  
To the girls' ride...  
  
"Mom, I'm hungry." Dominic complained to Dorothy.  
  
"Well, we need to get the christmas tree before we go back home." Dorothy replied.  
  
"That's weird." Hilde said. "Michael? Why aren't you complaining yet?"  
  
"Oh, I'm fine. I got a truckload of candy to keep me full!" Michael answered.  
  
Duo hit his forehead.  
  
Hilde looked at him like she couldn't believe it. "A truckload of candy? Where did you get that kind of candy from?" she asked.  
  
"Ummm...nowhere." Michael replied.  
  
Duo just looked out the window as if he wasn't even listening to the conversation.  
  
Dominic looked at a sack Michael was carrying. "Wow, Michael! You really do have gobs of candy!"  
  
"Sshhh!" Michael shoo'd Dominic.  
  
"Oh, young man..." Hilde said as she stopped the car.  
  
To the guys' ride...  
  
"Hey, what are the girls stopping for?" Quatre asked as the guys watched the women and Michael hop out of their own vehicle.  
  
"I don't know." Heero grumbled as he slowed down. The guys got out and went up to the girls.  
  
"What's going on?" Quatre asked the girls.  
  
Hilde looked down at Michael. "Michael, where did you get all this candy from?" she asked as she looked inside Michael's bag.  
  
"I'm not supposed to tell." Michael replied.  
  
"Who told you not to tell?" Hilde asked.  
  
"Did you pick that up from a stranger?! Did an old man give it to you?!" Quatre asked Michael.  
  
"Oh, yeah right." Dorothy responded to Quatre sarcastically. "Do you think the scientists would actually give the kids candy? To do what, poison them?"  
  
"No, it wasn't an old man." Michael interrupted. "Duo told me not to tell."  
  
Why, I wonder..."Duo!" Hilde shouted.  
  
Duo came out of the girls' vehicle. "Hey, Hilde." Duo laughed nervously. "What's up?"  
  
Hilde just looked at Duo. She had a way of looking at Duo that always made him tell her the truth.  
  
"Okay!" Duo shouted. "I gave him the candy to be quiet about me losing him."  
  
"Lost him?" Hilde said. "Lost him! Duo, he's four years old! How can you lose something that's only four and noisier than anything on earth!" Hilde sighed. "When did you realize you lost him?"  
  
"Oh, about 1:30." Duo replied.  
  
"When did you leave Duo?" Hilde asked her son.  
  
Her son shuffled his feet. "Oh, about 1:20."  
  
Hilde couldn't believe her ears. "You had 'lost' Michael for ten whole minutes! How is that even possible?!"  
  
Duo shrugged his shoulders.  
  
Dorothy interrupted. "How is that possible indeed. Wouldn't your first clue be....the silence?"  
  
Duo shrugged his shoulders again.  
  
"It's Duo, what did you expect!" Wufei shouted as he stuck his head out of the girls' vehicle window. "Can we hurry up and go already! These kids are driving me crazy!"  
  
Everyone got back into their cars.  
  
To the girls' van in mid conversation...  
  
"I think that's an excellent idea, Hilde." Dorothy answered back to Hilde.  
  
"No, I completely disagree!" Wufei shouted at the girls.  
  
"It will teach you to pay attention!" Mae Linh scolded.  
  
"Besides, we need to go back to the Manager." Catherine replied. "Someone needs to take care of things at home. Plus, you need to learn sometime."  
  
Wufei glared at Duo. "There punishing us because of you..."  
  
"I didn't mean for that to happen!" Duo shouted back.  
  
"Yes, you did!" Wufei replied.  
  
"No, I didn't!" Duo protested back.  
  
"Kids-oh, I mean guys-be quiet! We're almost there." Relena replied.  
  
"Gee, and I thought we were bad." Dominic whispered to Michael.  
  
After about a mile...  
  
"There it is, the Optomist Club!" Hilde shouted.  
  
The girls turned into a lot that had many types of trees. The guys followed the girls' vehicle. Everyone got out and headed for the trees.  
  
"Howdy, folks!" A man in overalls called out. "Can I help you?"  
  
"No, we're just looking." Dorothy replied.  
  
"Okay, let's break apart and find the best tree." Relena replied.  
  
"I'm guessing 'break apart' means get with our families again?" Quatre asked Heero.  
  
"What do you think." Heero answered back as his daughter pulled him up to Neo and Relena.  
  
Later on as the families started to find some trees...  
  
"I found a good one!" Dominic shouted out.  
  
"I did too!" Michael shouted out.  
  
Everyone came to where the children were. Dorothy and Hilde picked up the two trees the children picked out.  
  
"I don't know Michael, this trees fifty dollars...." Hilde said as she looked at the price tag.  
  
"What about yours, Dominic?" Dorothy asked. She picked up the tree and realized it was only twenty dollars. "This price tags a lot nicer than the other."  
  
Heero sneered. "As if you and Relena could ever put a dent in your checkbooks."  
  
Dorothy sneered back. "You'd be surprised how paying a circus and feeding eleven people can dent a checkbook."  
  
Heero continued to sneer.  
  
"Stop that, Heero." Relena replied. "Let's not get into this now. I think Dominic found a pretty good tree."  
  
Everyone walked up to the man in overalls. They paid him the money and had him put a fresh cut on the bottom of the tree. They stuck the tree in the back of the guys' car and moved out. 


	7. You Can Teach A Young Pilot New Tricks!

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Seven: You Can Teach a Young Pilot New Tricks!  
  
When everyone got home they were all worn out, except the kids. Especially Michael.  
  
"Can we decorate the tree now mommy? Huh, can we? Can we now mommy? Please, can we?" Michael kept saying as he constantly jumped up and down.  
  
"Michael, how much of that candy did you actually eat before I took it away?" Hilde asked.  
  
Michael answered back with speed and intensity in his voice. "Oh, not much mommy. Not much at all mommy. Hardly any mommy. I love you mommy. Can we decorate the christmas tree now mommy?"  
  
Hilde just glared at Duo again. Duo just did his best to ignore Hilde's glare. Suddenly, Hilde's glare slowly became an evil grin. "We'll decorate the tree later tonight. For now, let's just relax Michael."  
  
Most of the kids went up to their rooms, while everyone else just sat down in the living room in front of the fire.  
  
"Relena?" Heero asked Relena as he sat down on the big couch a cushion away from her. "Will you get your daughter off my hand now?"  
  
Relena looked at Rei still holding on to Heero. "Sorry about that, Heero. Neo and Rei have always followed their own emotions no matter what."  
  
Heero continued to look at Relena. "Please get her off."  
  
Relena tried coaxing Rei off of Heero. It didn't work.  
  
"Well, maybe we can help." Quatre recommended. "Your daughter can't be tougher than all of us gundam pilots."  
  
Wufei, Duo, Trowa, and Quatre all grabbed Rei's hands to pry her off. Every time they started getting closer to pulling her off, she'd whine like she was in pain. That caused them to lose their stance, and for those brief moments, she'd hold on even tighter than before.  
  
Relena looked at her daughter with worry on her face. She never acts like this. What is wrong?  
  
Suddenly, her brother came downstairs and saw that the pilots were forcing his little sister to do something against her will. Neo ran up to the pilots before Relena could stop him. He rushed head long into the pilots and pushed them all back. They all fell to the ground.  
  
"Neo, stop that!" Relena scolded.  
  
"They were hurting Rei!" Neo yelled back.  
  
Relena went up to Neo. "Honey, no they're not. Your sister won't let go of Heero, and the others were just trying to help."  
  
Neo looked back and glared at Heero. Does this guy have a deathwish, or what? Neo stood between Rei and Heero and yanked his sisters hand away from Heero. Then Neo grabbed his sisters hand and brought her upstairs despite her protests.  
  
The gundam pilots were stunned. They had used all their might to pull Rei off and her brother simply yanked her hand away as if it wasn't a hassle at all.  
  
Relena sat back down on the big couch. Rei never acts like that...why did she do that?  
  
"Anything wrong, Relena?" Catherine asked.  
  
"No, everything's fine." replied Relena. Or is it...  
  
Time passed by while the kids played and everyone sat around. Everyone went through the motions of the day, eating, scolding, playing, discussions, etc. Soon, it was 7:00...  
  
"Well, I suppose we better get that tree decorated before we leave, huh?" Catherine smiled as she saw the kids all staring at the tree.  
  
"Okay, let me get the decorations." Relena responded.  
  
The guys watched as Relena brought down a couple of boxes labeled 'Christmas.' The children and the women started to move towards the boxes and stick trinkets on the tree. The guys stood around.  
  
"Go ahead and help, guys." Relena said as she pulled out some lights and started to untangle them.  
  
"What should we do?" Quatre whispered to Trowa. "I've never decorated a tree before. The servants always did it."  
  
Trowa just looked back at Quatre. "I don't know how either."  
  
"Duo? You know how don't you?" Quatre asked.  
  
Duo looked at Quatre. "Well, yeah but...I haven't done it since I was a kid at my old church."  
  
Quatre looked at Heero and Wufei. "Either of you ever done it?" Quatre asked.  
  
Heero and Wufei just looked at each other and both shook their heads no.  
  
"It's easy, you guys." Hilde said as she handed Quatre a santa ornament and Duo a reindeer ornament.  
  
Duo shrugged and went up to the tree. He found a strong branch and hung the ornament over it. Then he went back to the boxes to see what else he could hang.  
  
Quatre looked at the Santa ornament. He went over to the tree and saw all the different branches he could hang it on.  
  
"Hang it on a strong branch." Dorothy said as she went by Quatre to hang up a red sled.  
  
Quatre did as she said and hung it up.  
  
"Now go get another one." Dorothy ordered.  
  
Quatre went over to the box Duo was at.  
  
Well those instructions are simple enough. thought Wufei. He went over to the box, while Heero and Trowa followed.  
  
Before anyone knew it, the tree was decorated.  
  
"It's pretty, but it's missing something." Quatre said as he looked at the tree.  
  
"Well, of course. The lights." Relena said as she finished untangling the lights.  
  
The guys helped the girls try and put the lights on the tree. When they were done everyone stood back to admire the tree.  
  
"Oooh, it's pretty!" Dominic remarked.  
  
"Very pretty!" Mingh Loh said.  
  
"Beautiful!" the twins said.  
  
"Nice." Jimmy said.  
  
"Yeah, I think it's one of our most prettiest Christmas trees. It's too bad we didn't do this sooner. We could have looked at the lights longer." Relena said as she grabbed her purse.  
  
"What do you mean?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Oh, I guess Wufei and Duo haven't told you yet." replied Hilde.  
  
"Told us what?" Heero said as he glared at Wufei and Duo.  
  
"We have to meet the manager tonight. You guys have to take care of the kids." Catherine replied.  
  
"Well, that should be easy. We took care of them for about a week once, remember?" Quatre remarked.  
  
Hilde shook her head. "You don't understand. It's getting closer to the time the kids need to go bed. You have to help them get undressed, take a bath, and get ready for bed."  
  
The guys looked stunned.  
  
"Onna! I can't wash Mingh Loh, she's female!" Wufei protested.  
  
Mae Linh laughed. "Wufei, You're her father! You can help your own daughter take her bath."  
  
Wufei just sneered at Mae Linh.  
  
The girls started to move out the door.  
  
"Quatre, make sure you wash behind Dominic's ears!" Dorothy shouted out.  
  
"Oh? Duo!" Hilde yelled out before she closed the door. "Watch Michael closely."  
  
The guys just looked at the kids. The kids just looked at the guys.  
  
The guys moved upstairs to their bedrooms. They sat down on their beds.  
  
"Did any of you notice anything in the mall?" Heero asked the other pilots.  
  
"Just people moving back and forth." Quatre replied.  
  
"I saw an old man take more than ten minutes to decide to get an orange." Wufei replied.  
  
"That's it?" Heero asked again.  
  
Everyone nodded their heads.  
  
"This is way too weird for my blood." Duo replied. "I mean I like Michael but, being his actual dad's another story. I mean, he got me into trouble."  
  
"I know." replied Quatre. "I feel like I'm extremely out of my territory."  
  
Heero looked down at the ground. "At least your children aren't threatening you, or holding on to you with all their might."  
  
"Can we really ever get used to this?" Duo asked. "Day in, day out. The same boring thing over and over?"  
  
"We can't back out though."Quatre replied. "We promised we wouldn't, remember?"  
  
"This isn't going well though." Trowa replied. "Jimmy doesn't speak to me, and Catherine refuses to talk with me."  
  
"Trowa, your son never talks and you were the girls' brother." Duo replied.  
  
"So empty..." Wufei simply said. "No missions, no fighting, no peace to continually work for or to protect."  
  
The guys all looked at the ground. Unbeknownst to them...  
  
"Our dads want to leave?" Dominic said as he sat on the couch.  
  
"I knew I shouldn't have listened!" Michael shouted.  
  
"Why not tell us to our faces though? They know we can even hear whispers." Dominic said sadly.  
  
"They probably don't know how far away we really can hear." Mingh Loh replied.  
  
"Good riddance." Neo remarked. "If they want to leave, let them. Life was just fine with our moms before they came along."  
  
Rei just stood silent.  
  
"Fine! If-if Duo doesn't want to stay then...then I won't make him." Michael sadly replied.  
  
"Let's drive them away tonight." Neo said as he looked at the others. All the children sadly shook their heads yes, except Rei. 


	8. Rubber Ducky Isn't Useful

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Eight: Rubber ducky isn't useful.  
  
About 8:00...  
  
"Dominic! Let's give you a bath now, okay?" Quatre said as he came down the stairs.  
  
"No." Dominic said.  
  
"Your mom told me you need to take one though." Quatre replied.  
  
"No! I won't take a bath until I hear a good reason why?!" Dominic shouted.  
  
"Dominic?" Quatre asked stunned that his son shouted at him. "Why don't you want to take a bath?"  
  
"I'll just get dirty tomorrow night again!" Dominic shouted louder. "I'll take my bath tomorrow night!"  
  
"Quatre, your kid isn't in a very good mood right now. I'll just take my kid while you figure out what's wrong with your kid." Duo said as he walked up to Michael. "Come on kid, let's get you in the bathtub."  
  
Michael just grinned at Duo and ran up the stairs to the bathroom.  
  
That was easy. Duo thought. Maybe this won't be so bad after all...  
  
Duo walked up the stairs to the bathroom. He saw Michael was ready and waiting.  
  
"Okay kid, take your shirt off." Duo said as he got the bathtub ready.  
  
"I'm only four years old, Duo. I can't get undressed by myself." Michael replied.  
  
"Your telling me you can jump off of tall buildings without a scratch, but you can't get undressed by yourself?" Duo asked confused.  
  
"Uh-huh." replied Michael.  
  
Duo just groaned as he helped Michael get undressed. Then Duo sat Michael in the bathtub.  
  
"You forgot my rubber ducky, Duo." Michael replied as Duo was trying to wash Michael.  
  
"Well, where is it?" Duo asked.  
  
"In my drawer with the DBZ comics." replied Michael.  
  
"Oh? Okay I'll be back." Duo said as he went out the door.  
  
Yeah, like I'll be waiting! Michael thought with an evil grin.  
  
To Quatre's problem...  
  
"Please, Dominic! You really should take a bath!" Quatre pleaded to Dominic.  
  
"No! You haven't given me a good excuse to yet!" Dominic shouted at Quatre.  
  
Dominic's shouting had started to annoy the other guys.  
  
"Just grab him already Winner!" Wufei shouted at Quatre.  
  
Quatre looked at Dominic. "I'm sorry Dominic, but you need to take your bath." Quatre said as he grabbed Dominic in spite of his protests and dragged him up to the bathroom.  
  
"Let go of me!" Dominic screamed as loud as he could when they got to the bathroom. Quatre looked inside.  
  
"Duo?" Quatre shouted out.  
  
"What?" Duo replied as he came walking down the hall.  
  
"Where were you?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Michael said that he needed his rubber ducky, but I couldn't find it." Duo replied.  
  
Quatre looked at the bathtub. "That doesn't matter anymore Duo because he's not here."  
  
"What?!" Duo shouted as he looked into the bathtub. "Michael, where are you?!"  
  
Duo shouted down the hall. "Michael! Michael!"  
  
Then suddenly before Quatre knew it, Dominic let out a blood curling scream right in Quatre's ear.  
  
"Aaaahhhhh!" Quatre shouted. "Dominic, what has got into you?!"  
  
To the guys downstairs...  
  
"Did you hear that?" Trowa asked. "Was that Dominic?"  
  
"Michael?!" Duo continued to shout as he came downstairs."Hey, guys? Have you seen a naked four-year-old around here someplace?"  
  
The guys all looked at each other.  
  
"Can't say that I have." Heero replied.  
  
"Aaahhh, Michael?! Where are you?!" Duo started hollering again.  
  
To poor Quatre again...  
  
"Dominic, don't splash so much!" Quatre said as he did his best to wash Dominic.  
  
"I don't wanna take a bath!!" Dominic continued to scream.  
  
"Dominic, what's your problem? You've never acted like this before."  
  
Dominic just stuck his tongue out at Quatre.  
  
A little while later...  
  
"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Quatre asked softly as he dried the grumpy Dominic off with a warm towel.  
  
"Yes, it was!" Dominic shouted.  
  
Quatre got Dominic dressed, with a little bit of hassle, and carried him back downstairs.  
  
"Did Duo ever find Michael?" Quatre asked as he set Dominic beside Rei, Neo, Jimmy, and Mingh Loh on the floor of the living room.  
  
Quatre suddenly heard something coming from the back yard. "MICHAEL!! WHERE ARE-AAAHH!! A KILLER LION! DOWN BOY! HELP!!"  
  
"I wouldn't bet on it." Wufei replied. "Who's next?"  
  
The guys looked at each other.  
  
"I'll go." Trowa said as he got up from the couch.  
  
Trowa went over to Jimmy.  
  
"Come." Trowa replied.  
  
Jimmy got up and looked at Trowa. "No, never!" he shouted.  
  
Jimmy stunned Trowa. Jimmy rarely talks and now he's downright shouting? Trowa thought.  
  
"Come." Trowa repeated himself.  
  
Jimmy jumped up and down on the floor. "NO! NO! NO! NO!" Jimmy continued to shout before he shot out of the room.  
  
Trowa followed Jimmy out of the room and snatched him up right before he went into the back yard. Trowa dragged Jimmy up to the bathroom while Jimmy continued to shout and kick his heels.  
  
Outside you could hear Duo yelling from the front yard. "NICE FLUFFY, DOWN BOY! MICHAEL!!"  
  
"Jimmy is actually yelling." Quatre said to the others. "That's spooky."  
  
Mingh Loh walked up to Wufei. "Are you going to give me a bath tonight or not otoko!" Mingh Loh shouted at Wufei.  
  
Wufei just looked at her. "You actually want a bath?"  
  
Mingh Loh just looked at Wufei. "Of course. I don't want to smell like you, you know."  
  
Wufei muttered something underneath his breath while he and Mingh Loh went upstairs. 


	9. What's Wrong With These Kids?

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter nine: What's wrong with these kids?  
  
"MICHAEL!!" Duo continued to shout as he came in. "Hey, have you guys-"  
  
"No." Heero replied. "We haven't seen him."  
  
Duo just moaned and went upstairs. He started yelling again until Trowa interrupted. He was coming out with a kid that looked like Jimmy, but was as noisy as Michael.  
  
"Duo." Trowa said as he walked up to Duo. "If he ran away from you, what makes you think he'll come back just by yelling out his name?"  
  
Duo thought about Trowa's comment. "You think he's hiding from me?"  
  
"Yes." Trowa simply replied as he took the noisy Jimmy-look-alike downstairs.  
  
Duo looked as he saw Wufei standing by the doorway of the bathroom waiting for Mingh Loh to get undressed.  
  
"I'm done!" she yelled.  
  
Wufei grumbled as he stepped inside and started bathing his daughter.  
  
"Behind my ears!" Mingh Loh yelled at Wufei. Wufei just grumbled. "In between my toes too!" Mingh Loh yelled again.  
  
Wufei just mumbled again. Where has my dignity gone to?...  
  
After giving enough orders to her dad, Mingh Loh got out of the bathtub and got dressed. Mingh Loh and Wufei went downstairs. Wufei just looked at Heero's kids.  
  
Double trouble. Wufei thought.  
  
Heero walked up to Neo and Rei. "Let's go."  
  
Rei got up and went upstairs. Neo just stood there.  
  
Heero just looked at his son. "If you don't want to take a bath, fine. I won't deal with any intolerable screaming or foolish antics."  
  
His son just glared back at him and ran off.  
  
"Heero? Relena wants you to bathe him also." Quatre said.  
  
Heero ignored Quatre and went upstairs to bathe Rei.  
  
He found her already undressed and in the bathtub. Heero bathed her while she stood completely still. Ten minutes later Heero and Rei came back downstairs.  
  
"That was fast!" Quatre commented.  
  
"How did you do that?!" Wufei shouted.  
  
"I just bathed her." Heero said calmly as he sat back down.  
  
Everyone just looked at Heero as if he wasn't telling the truth.  
  
"Did you threaten her?" Quatre asked.  
  
"No." Heero replied.  
  
"Did you bribe her?" Wufei asked.  
  
Heero just glared at Wufei. "No, I just bathed her."  
  
Then the guys suddenly realized something. They looked down at their feet. Dressed in his pajamas was...  
  
"Michael!" Quatre shouted.  
  
Michael looked up and grinned. "Hi!"  
  
"Duo!" Quatre shouted. "We found Michael!"  
  
Duo ran into the house panting. "You did?! Well, where is he?!"  
  
Quatre just looked at Duo. "Duo, he's right next to me."  
  
Duo looked again. "Are you okay, Quatre? That's Heero's kid."  
  
Quatre looked at Duo puzzled. Then he looked at the kid next to him. It was Neo.  
  
"Well, he was right here.." Quatre replied.  
  
Heero looked at his watch. "When we're the kids supposed to be in bed?"  
  
"At 9:00 Heero, why?" Quatre asked.  
  
"When are the girls supposed to be home?" Heero asked again.  
  
"Around 10:00." Duo answered. "Why?"  
  
Heero looked down at the ground. "It's 9:50."  
  
"What?" Quatre replied. "Are you serious?!"  
  
Heero shook his head yes.  
  
"Dominic, please go upstairs." Quatre said as he looked at Dominic.  
  
"No! I go to bed every night!" Dominic shouted. "I don't want to go to bed. Give me a good reason to go to bed!"  
  
Quatre just sighed. "I don't have time for this right now, Dominic."  
  
"I won't go! I'll go to bed tomorrow night!" Dominic shouted.  
  
"Winner!" Wufei shouted as he and Trowa grabbed their own children. "Just grab him!"  
  
Quatre grabbed Dominic while he kicked and screamed. "I don't want to! Let me go!"  
  
Heero looked down at Neo. "Get to bed."  
  
Neo glared at him and smirked. Yeah, right...  
  
Heero looked at Rei but she was already moving up the stairs.  
  
"MICHAEL!" Duo shouted as he moved through the rooms one by one. "This isn't funny! Please come out!"  
  
Heero looked down at Neo. Neo looked back at Heero.  
  
"Go to bed." Heero repeated.  
  
Neo just looked back at Heero. Is this guy serious?  
  
Suddenly, the guys heard the car start parking into the driveway.  
  
"Oh no!!" Duo shouted.  
  
Neo slowly moved up the stairs and disappeared just in time for the girls to come through the door...  
  
"Hey, Duo! How did Michael behave?" Hilde shouted as she came through the door.  
  
Duo just laughed nervously.  
  
The rest of the women came in behind Dorothy.  
  
"Well, how were the kids?" Relena asked.  
  
None of the guys answered.  
  
"Oh, they're not that bad!" Hilde laughed.  
  
Duo just stood silent as he watched the girls go up to say goodnight to the kids. I am so toast.  
  
A little later...  
  
"Well, all the kids are asleep. Especially Michael! He must have been worn out." Hilde said as she came downstairs.  
  
"Michael was upst- of course he was!" Duo laughed nervously.  
  
Hilde looked confusingly at Duo. "You aren't making much sense tonight. I think you need some sleep Duo."  
  
"Yeah, I'm really worn out." Duo replied. Why that little...  
  
"That's good. I think it's time for us to go to bed also." Hilde said as she and the other girls went up the stairs.  
  
"You know, I think I'll go to bed too." Quatre replied as he looked at the others.  
  
"I agree. If kids take this much energy, we'll need to get all the sleep we can." Duo said as he and the others started to move up the stairs to their room.  
  
To the kids...  
  
"So, do you think that did it?" Dominic asked. "Do you think they'll go away now?"  
  
"I'm not sure. I couldn't hear them." Michael said.  
  
"Yeah, if only mom didn't carpet the walls with soundproof carpet." Dominic replied.  
  
"If they're smart, then they'll run as fast as they can." Neo said.  
  
"No kidding, if I had to go through what they did tonight, I'd already be gone." Michael replied. "Hey, Jimmy? You okay?" Michael asked as he looked at Jimmy rubbing his throat.  
  
Jimmy just grumbled.  
  
"Leave him be." Neo replied. "His throat probably hurts. He's not used to yelling."  
  
"He's not used to yelling? He's not even used to talking." Dominic replied.  
  
"Whatever!" Mingh Loh harshly whispered. "Let's just go to sleep already. I'm not used to staying up so late."  
  
The other kids nodded their heads.  
  
Rei just looked at her brother.  
  
"Why didn't you help?" Neo asked Rei.  
  
Rei just turned around.  
  
Neo grumbled. She's hiding something...  
  
Back to the guys...  
  
"Gee, I never knew it took so long to get kids ready for bed." Duo yawned as he crawled into bed. "I'll say this though. I was wrong when I said this would be boring."  
  
Quatre plopped down onto his bed. "I wish it was more boring. That was downright horrible!"  
  
"No kidding." Duo replied. "The only kids who weren't causing trouble were Rei and Mingh Loh."  
  
"Don't say that onna was easy!" Wufei answered back. "I have never heard so many commands in my life!"  
  
"Alright then, calm down!" Duo replied. "Then Rei behaved well.Your lucky, Heero. You didn't have to go all around this house with that 'pet' on your heels looking for your son, and then find out that he was in his own bed!"  
  
Heero just ignored Duo's statement. "Will you go to sleep already?"  
  
"Well, excuse me for interrupting your peaceful sleep!" Duo said as he cuddled up in his covers. 


	10. The God of Death Just Turned Into An Ang...

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Ten: The God of Death Just Turned Into An Angel?!  
  
The next morning around 11:00...  
  
The guys slowly came down the stairs. They realized the girls and the children were already up and sitting on the couch. The guys went into the kitchen to get something to eat.  
  
Michael hit Dominic's shoulder. "Aren't they supposed to be gone by now?" Michael whispered.  
  
"I thought they would be. I guess not." Dominic responded.  
  
"Dominic!" Michael whispered harshly. "Whisper or our moms'll hear!"  
  
"Well, then I guess they want to stay after all!" Michael whispered back excitedly.  
  
"They only stayed because they promised." Neo whispered to Dominic and Michael. "They will get fed up with this 'boring ' life soon, trust me."  
  
Michael just looked at Neo. "Well, I think if they stayed after everything we did to them, we should give them another chance." Michael whispered.  
  
Neo just looked back at Michael. "Do whatever you want." Neo just jumped off the couch. "I don't give second chances."  
  
You don't even give first chances. Michael thought. "What do you say Dominic? None of them left, so shouldn't we give them a second chance?" Michael whispered.  
  
Dominic looked at Michael. "Well, if Quatre stayed...I guess maybe we should."  
  
Rei jumped off the couch too and went towards her brother.  
  
"What?" Neo asked when he realized Rei was following her. Rei just looked at him with a sad, but sweet smile.  
  
"What are you hiding?" Neo asked again.  
  
Rei just looked at her brother again and went off to the kitchen.  
  
To the kitchen...  
  
"Where did that cereal go?" Duo said out loud as he started looking through all the pantries.  
  
"I think it's in the middle pantry." Quatre replied as he watched Rei enter the kitchen.  
  
Heero just looked at Rei, but silently hid his hand behind his back. "What is it?"  
  
Rei just stared back at the former pilots as if she really wanted to say something.  
  
"Kid, you just gonna stare at us all day?" Duo asked.  
  
Rei looked at Duo, and then she slowly shied away from Heero as she turned around and left the kitchen.  
  
"Strange kid." Duo replied while he started munching away on some cereal straight out of the box.  
  
Heero just glared at Duo.  
  
Duo noticed Heero glaring at him. "What did I do?"  
  
"You scared her off." Trowa replied.  
  
"Well, she was freaking me out!" Duo answered back. "It's not natural for a kid to stare like that."  
  
Back to the living room...  
  
"Hey Jimmy!" Michael shouted as he went to sit next to Jimmy and Mingh Loh on the couch. "Dominic and I have done some thinking." Michael whispered. "We think we should give the guys another chance since they didn't leave. What do you think?"  
  
Mingh Loh whispered back. "Fine, I'll be strong enough to give Wufei another chance."  
  
"How about you Jimmy?" Michael whispered to Jimmy.  
  
Jimmy thought. Normally no, but my throat's killing me... Jimmy nodded his head yes.  
  
"Great!" Michael whispered excitedly. "Let's be nicer to them today... "I know, we'll play with them!"  
  
Jimmy and Mingh Loh just looked at Michael.  
  
"Play?" Mingh Loh asked.  
  
"Yeah, in the snow! It should be hard enough by now to play in!" Michael whispered back.  
  
Jimmy and Mingh Loh just looked at each other.  
  
"Fine." Mingh Loh agreed. Jimmy just shook his head yes.  
  
Michael jumped down from the couch and ran over to his mom Hilde. "Mom, can I go play outside?"  
  
"Not unless you get a coat." his mom replied.  
  
The kids went upstairs to get their coats.  
  
"Your gloves also." Hilde said as she saw the kids come back down the stairs. the kids went back up the stairs to grab their gloves.  
  
"Zip up your coats." Dorothy replied.  
  
The kids bent down awkwardly and zipped up their heavy coats.  
  
"Don't forget your stocking caps." Relena replied.  
  
The kids just moaned and went back upstairs to get their stocking caps.  
  
"Now can we go?" Michael asked his mother.  
  
"Sure." Hilde replied.  
  
Instead of going out the door though, the kids went towards the kitchen.  
  
"Come play with us!" Michael shouted at Duo.  
  
Duo just looked at Michael. "Play?"  
  
"Yeah, in the snow!" Michael replied.  
  
"It's cold out there! I don't want to go out there!" Duo answered back.  
  
"Please Duo! Just for a little while..." Michael pleaded.  
  
"Ugh...Oh, alright. Fine, for a little bit okay?" Duo gave in at last.  
  
"You guys too!" Dominic shouted at the others.  
  
"No." replied Heero.  
  
"Rei!" Michael shouted out. "I think your daddy wants a hug!"  
  
"Never mind, I'll come." Heero replied as he got away from the wall.  
  
"I won't." Wufei said defiantly.  
  
"Yes you will,daddy!" Mingh Loh shouted.  
  
Wufei looked stunned. "Why did you call me that?"  
  
Mingh Loh looked confused. "I thought you liked it. It's all you responded to in the mall."  
  
"I wasn't paying attention. Please don't call me that." Wufei replied.  
  
"Only if you come play with us." Mingh Loh replied.  
  
Wufei sighed and shook his head yes.  
  
"Excellent, go get your coats and gloves on!" Michael shouted.  
  
The guys went upstairs and grabbed the new winter ensembles the girls bought for them.  
  
"Let's go!" Michael shouted as he watched the guys come down the stairs.  
  
A little while later...  
  
"Help you make a snowman?" Quatre asked confused. "What's a snowman?"  
  
Dominic smiled at his father. "Just help me roll up a lot of snow for starters."  
  
Quatre did as Dominic said as he helped Dominic make a huge ball of snow.  
  
"Is that it?" Quatre replied looking at the pile of snow.  
  
"No, silly! Help me make another ball!" Dominic laughed.  
  
Dominic and Quatre made another ball.  
  
"Now, put it on top of the other one." Dominic said.  
  
Dominic and Quatre put the second ball on top of the other.  
  
"Now what?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Make another ball and put it on top of the other ball again." Dominic replied.  
  
Quatre and Dominic made the huge snowball and placed it on the top again.  
  
"Now we can decorate it!" Dominic shouted as he showed Quatre a carrot, some sticks, and pieces of coal and handed them to Quatre.  
  
Quatre just looked back at Dominic confused.  
  
"Like in the song!" Dominic laughed and started singing. "Frosty the snowman was a Jolly happy soul. With a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal!"  
  
Quatre looked at him again and put two coals in for the snowman's eyes.  
  
"Right!" Dominic shouted. "Put the sticks in for his hands, the carrot for his nose, and the rest of the coal as a mouth and buttons!"  
  
"Oh, like this!" Quatre laughed as he placed the objects where Dominic said to put them.  
  
"Right!" Dominic laughed.  
  
Quatre looked at the snowman. "He's missing something." Quatre took a stick and made lines on the snowman to make it look like a vest. Then Quatre went into the house and swerved into the kitchen. He came out and walked up to Dominic. "Now, it's complete!" Quatre laughed as he placed a teacup in a stick hand of the snowman.  
  
Quatre and Dominic just laughed.  
  
"Let's make another one!" Dominic shouted.  
  
To Duo and Michael...  
  
"Come on, Duo! It's fun!" Michael pleaded. "Just make one snow angel with me?"  
  
Duo just looked at Michael. "I'll get my clothes all snowy."  
  
Michael laughed. "No you won't Duo! These outfits were meant to be snowed on. It's easy to get the snow off."  
  
Duo just groaned as he turned his back to the snow. "Are you sure it won't hurt when I fall?"  
  
"Positive!" Michael replied.  
  
Duo took one last look at the snow before he fell in. Michael was right, it didn't hurt at all. "Cool! Now what?!"  
  
Michael laughed and fell down into the snow. "Wave your arms and legs up and down, like this!" Michael said as he moved up and down to make the wings and dress.  
  
Duo did as he was told. "I did it! Now, how do I get out?"  
  
"Just plop yourself out!" Michael shouted as he put extra strength into his legs and stood up.  
  
Duo did the same, although his wasn't as graceful.  
  
"Wow, look! The God of Death just turned into an angel!" Duo laughed as he looked at his snow angel. "It's not as good as yours, though."  
  
"It takes practice." Michael said. "You'll get the hang of it after awhile!"  
  
To Wufei and Mingh Loh...  
  
"Hah! Is that all you can hit?" Ming Loh said as she looked at the icicles on the house. She was in the middle of a contest with Wufei to see who could knock down the most icicles with only 10 snowballs.  
  
"It's pretty good for my first time!" Wufei shouted back.  
  
"Your first time? I don't even remember my first time, but I have always beaten anyone who tried to challenge me!" Mingh Loh replied.  
  
Wufei looked at the icicles still hanging on to the house. How come I can do something like fly a gundam and not nail some simple icicles.Wait! Gundam, I wonder...  
  
Wufei threw two snowballs and simultaneously made four icicles fall.  
  
"Wow!" Mingh Loh shouted as she jumped up and down. "That was amazing! How did you do that!"  
  
Wufei smiled and crossed his arms. "A simple trick I learned from dealing with space mines."  
  
"Can you please teach me father? Pretty please?" Mingh Loh said as she stopped jumping up and down.  
  
"It takes time and commitment." Wufei said.  
  
"I'll do whatever it takes! I never back down!" Mingh Loh said proudly.  
  
Wufei just smiled.  
  
To Rei, Neo, Jimmy, and their fathers. (Who for once are really enjoying themselves.)...  
  
Heero has the upper hand...Trowa thought while Jimmy and Trowa were hiding behind a snowfort. "We need a strategy, Jimmy."  
  
Jimmy shook his head yes while he threw another snowball at Rei and missed.  
  
"They're coming up with a strategy." Heero replied. "We need to take them down now."  
  
Neo looked at Heero. "How?"  
  
Heero looked at the snowfort Trowa and Jimmy were hiding behind. "I'll run as fast as I can to the left. Trowa will know it's a trick and won't strike. Rei, slowly move out from behind the fort on the left. Trowa will see you, and will tell Jimmy to go after you while he takes me. Meanwhile Neo will stay behind the fort and-"  
  
"Lunch time!" Relena shouted out.  
  
All the kids shot out for the front door.  
  
"It's already lunchtime?!" Duo shouted out.  
  
"It can't be! We're in the middle of a mission-er-a game!" Heero shouted.  
  
"You can play later!" Relena shouted out to them. "It's time to eat!"  
  
The guys slowly moved inside until they heard a strange sound.  
  
"Oh, they arrived already?" Relena said as she shouted out Catherine's name.  
  
"What's the whole circus doing here?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Well..." began Relena. "Other than just paying the circus to keep quiet, we have to do something when it comes this way."  
  
"What?" Trowa asked.  
  
"Perform." Relena replied.  
  
"Perform?!" Duo shouted. "What do you mean? Aren't you supposed to stay out of the public eye?"  
  
"Yes, but in the circus people think were 'look-a-likes' and not the real thing." Catherine explained. Suddenly, some people walked up to their door.  
  
"Hello, Relena!" a woman smiled sweetly. "It's good to see you!" Then she noticed the pilots. "Oh, have you added on to your show?"  
  
Relena laughed. "Never mind them, Rouge. Who all came?"  
  
A man beside her laughed. "Oh, just a few small acts this time." he said.  
  
Catherine smiled. "Well, thanks for telling us Legato."  
  
"Legato?" Trowa asked. "How do you know him?"  
  
Catherine blushed. "Well, he took your- I mean- my former dead partner's place!"  
  
Trowa looked at him suspiciously. "Do you know the scientists?"  
  
"The what?" Legato responded.  
  
"Okay, that's enough introductions for now!" Relena interrupted. "We need to go inside and eat! See you later Legato and Rouge!"  
  
The two circus people went away as the guys went inside to eat. 


	11. The Secret Is Out.

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Eleven: The Secret is Out.  
  
Heero looked at Relena as he was walking inside. "You mean to tell me that we have to perform?"  
  
Relena just looked at Heero. "Chances are pretty good that you will."  
  
"I don't want to perform!" Duo shouted. "People would look at me like I was a freak!"  
  
"No, they don't." Trowa replied testily.  
  
"Oh, I didn't mean to offend you Trowa! I forgot you were in the circus with your girlfriend, weren't you?" Duo asked.  
  
Catherine just embarrassingly blushed while Trowa just looked angrily at Duo. "Watch your mouth, Duo..."  
  
"Oh, not girlfriend. Loving sister, right?" Duo replied.  
  
Trowa just looked at him again. "Let's just go sit down."  
  
The guys went into the kitchen to sit down and eat with the rest of the family.  
  
Michael smiled at Duo as he sat down next to him and Hilde. "Hey, Duo? People don't look at you like your a freak. I know. I wish some people did though, then all those jerks wouldn't hang out with our moms."  
  
The guys gagged on their food slightly.  
  
"What? What does he mean, Hilde?" Duo asked Hilde.  
  
"The other performers, Duo." Hilde replied. "He's thinking of all the other performers, right Michael?"  
  
"Huh? No I'm talking about the guys tha-" began Michael until he saw his mom looking at him. "I mean, yeah the performers."  
  
"See?" Hilde smiled back at Duo.  
  
"You bet." replied Dominic. "Mom's real fond of the guys on the trapeze...and Aunt Relena constantly flirts with the new staff."  
  
Heero just stared at Relena. Relena just tried to ignore him.  
  
Quatre looked at Dorothy who was silently drinking her pop. "You know, Dorothy-you really-that's just not-you shouldn't want-I mean-it's not-you just-" stuttered Quatre.  
  
"What? It's just harmless fun." replied Dorothy.  
  
"Yeah, that's nothing compared to how much Aunt Hilde flirts anyhow." Dominic said in his mother's defense.  
  
Duo glanced at Hilde. "What does he mean?"  
  
"Well, I uh-" Hilde stuttered.  
  
Dominic talked while he chewed his food. "She has no preference. She likes all the guys."  
  
Duo just looked at Hilde again, "That true?"  
  
Hilde nervously laughed. "Come on, Duo. You know I've never been that judgemental of guys. I mean I hung out with you, remember?"  
  
"Yeah, well..." Michael replied. "Jimmy's mom's been smitten with Legato Bluesummers, you know."  
  
Trowa stopped eating and looked over at Catherine. "Is that true?"  
  
Catherine shuffled her feet. "Sort of."  
  
"He's not right for you, I can sense it." Trowa replied. "Stay away from him."  
  
Catherine grew red with anger. "He is too right! Even Jimmy likes him, right Jimmy?"  
  
Jimmy just ignored his mother.  
  
Mingh Loh felt like entering the conversation. "Yes, well mother doesn't flirt because those men are all weak."  
  
Wufei smiled.  
  
"She will end up with my father because he's arrogant, not weak." Mingh Loh finished.  
  
Wufei stopped smiling. Mae Linh just ignored her daughter's comment.  
  
"Well, you have husbands now so you don't have to find a father for the kids anymore." Duo said demandingly.  
  
"What?!" the girls shouted.  
  
"Who said you were my husband?!" Hilde shouted at Duo.  
  
Duo crossed his arms. "I'm Michael's father, aren't I?"  
  
"That doesn't make you my husband!" Hilde shouted. "We aren't flirting to find 'fathers' anyway!"  
  
"Nevertheless, no more flirting." Heero said as he glared at Relena.  
  
"Oh?" Dorothy replied. "Does that mean you'll stop flirting too?"  
  
"Yes." Heero replied.  
  
"He doesn't speak for me!" Duo shouted.  
  
"Heero, how often do you flirt with other women?" asked Relena.  
  
"..." Heero responded.  
  
"I thought so." Relena answered back.  
  
"We aren't talking about us, we're talking about you." Duo said. "As Michael's father, I say no."  
  
"Yeah, well I'll stop flirting the day that you marry me." Hilde replied.  
  
"You're on!" Duo shouted. Wait, what did I just say?  
  
"Is that a proposal?" Dorothy asked as everyone stared at Duo.  
  
"Yeah, now Duo can never leave!" Michael shouted.  
  
"I-I didn't mean-I just." Duo stuttered.  
  
Hilde laughed. "Oh don't worry, Duo. I know your mouth moves faster than your brain!"  
  
Mae Linh felt it was time to change this discussion. "When are we supposed to perform?"  
  
Relena took a bite of her meat. "I don't know. I'll have to find the manager and ask, but I'm guessing in a couple of days."  
  
After everyone was done eating, the parents went into the living room to relax by the fire. All of the kids went into their bedroom or outside to play, except Neo and Rei.  
  
Rei just kept looking at the pilots, while Neo kept staring at Heero.  
  
"Heero, how can you stand to have those two staring at you?" Duo asked.  
  
Heero didn't respond.  
  
"That's really spooky. Your kids are freaking me out, Heero." Duo replied.  
  
Heero slightly smiled.  
  
Rei finally went up to Heero. "Hi."  
  
"Hello." responded Heero.  
  
"Can I talk to you?" Rei asked Heero.  
  
"Sure." Heero replied.  
  
"Away from him?" Rei asked as she pointed toward Duo. "He scares me."  
  
"With what, his looks?" Wufei responded.  
  
"Wufei!" Duo whined. "Stop hanging out with your daughter, she's rubbing off on you!"  
  
Heero looked at Rei. "Where?"  
  
"Mommy's room." Rei replied.  
  
Heero just looked at her confused.  
  
"Please?" Rei asked.  
  
Heero shook his head yes and followed her upstairs to Relena's room.  
  
"Okay, what did you want to tell me?" Heero asked.  
  
Rei shuffled her feet. "The mall."  
  
"What about it?" Heero replied.  
  
Rei looked at the ground. "Promise you won't tell mommy?"  
  
Heero just looked down at his daughter. "Promise."  
  
"You won't get mad either?" Rei said looking up at her father.  
  
Heero looked down at his daughter again. "Alright."  
  
"I've been in contact with Dr. J." Rei replied.  
  
"What?" Heero asked.  
  
"I like Dr. J. I've been in contact with him for someime now." Rei replied.  
  
"How?" Heero asked.  
  
"Sound waves." Rei answered.  
  
Heero just looked at her confused.  
  
Rei just looked at her father. Is he really going to make me yack all day long?  
  
Heero continued to look at her.  
  
I guess so... thought Rei. "Me and the other children hear extremely well when we want to. So well mommy carpeted their bedroom walls in soundproof carpet along with our bedroom."  
  
Heero looked at her again. "What's that have to do with Dr. J?"  
  
Rei sighed and looked at him again. He makes me talk so much...When I cock my ears just right I can hear well, but when I don't, I hear like everyone else. In public places none of the kids cock their ears because their are too many noises all over. That's when Dr. J. contacts me."  
  
"From a far away distance?" Heero asked.  
  
Rei shook her head yes.  
  
Heero looked at his daughter. "Why is this important now? Did he say something to you?"  
  
Rei shook her head yes again.  
  
"What did he say?" Heero asked.  
  
Rei looked at Heero. "He said 'Hold on tight to your daddy, he knows the key that you hold'."  
  
"I know the key that you hold?" repeated Heero. "What does that mean?"  
  
Rei shrugged her shoulders. "Promise you won't tell?"  
  
Heero just looked at her. "Promise." 


	12. Past Revelations.

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter twelve: Past revelations  
  
Michael and Mingh Loh had become bored and came down to see what was on T.V.  
  
Michael sat in the front while Mingh Loh sat next to her mom and Duo.  
  
Wufei stared at Mae Linh. She annoyed him just by being there. It's been two days and I still don't know where I knew this onna from! Wufei looked at Mae Linh and Mingh Loh. The laugh, the attitude, the name...  
  
Michael saw something on T.V. that made him stand up. "Look, it's Zeches! That guy's related to Aunt Relena right?"  
  
"Otoko, get down!" Mingh Loh shouted at Michael.  
  
"Yes, he's my brother." Relena responded.  
  
"He's your brother? That's cool!" Michael shouted.  
  
Mingh Loh didn't feel like yelling again. Instead she moved up to Michael and put her index finger in the groove on the back of Michael's knee. Michael automatically fell forward.  
  
"Told you to sit down." Mingh Loh said cooly.  
  
Then, as if lightning struck Wufei, memories from a long forgotten past started to resurface...  
  
A young boy of about six was looking for a quiet place to study. He walked out to a small cliff only a few feet from a beautiful pond.  
  
"1+8=7? No!" the boy shouted. "1+8=10? No!" the boy shouted again.  
  
The boy stopped to look at the beautiful blue sky and the trees around him. "Such a pretty sight. I got it! 1+8=9!"  
  
The boy laughed as he wrote down his great accomplishment on a piece of paper. He stood up. "Yes, I rise to the challenge once again!"  
  
Suddenly, he felt something hit him in the back of his knee. The next thing he remembered he was wet. When he opened his eyes he realized he fell into the pond. "What happened?"  
  
"Hello, I'm Mae Linh Schin!" he heard a voice call out above him.  
  
He looked up and saw a little girl about his age. "Did you trip me?!" he shouted.  
  
She laughed and shook her head yes.  
  
The boy did his best to crawl back up to the edge of the small cliff. The boy felt completely drenched. He felt even worse when he looked at his white outfit caped in mud. "Look what you did you...you..."  
  
"Onna!" she said proudly. "Hello, what's your name?"  
  
"How dare you!" the boy shouted enraged. "I am Wufei Chang! The descendent of the mighty warrior of the clan Changs!"  
  
Mae Linh just laughed. "I'm new here. If you're a strong enough otoko, I will play with you."  
  
Wufei looked at her again. "I am strong, but I don't play with bleeding hearts or women."  
  
"You are not! You're not brave enough to be seen with me! You are weak!" Mae Linh shouted.  
  
"I am not! Name the game!" Wufei shouted.  
  
"Hide-and-go-seek!" Mae Linh shouted.  
  
Wufei stood up. "Mae Linh Schin!"  
  
Everyone just looked at him except Mae Linh.  
  
"You remember, huh?" Mae Linh said.  
  
Wufei looked at her closely. "You've changed a lot."  
  
"Well, the last time we saw each other we were ten years old Wufei!" Mae Linh laughed.  
  
"What?" Duo said. "Wufei, you knew her when you were a kid?!"  
  
"Yes." Wufei replied.  
  
"How?" Duo asked.  
  
"I will not go into that." Wufei replied while Mae Linh and Mingh Loh laughed.  
  
Wufei walked up to Duo. "Get up."  
  
"Why?" Duo asked.  
  
Wufei grabbed Duo's turtleneck and pushed him off.  
  
"Hey, man! What's the big idea?" Duo asked as he picked himself up.  
  
Wufei sat down next to Mae Linh. "Onna, I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner. Where did you move away to?"  
  
"Wait a second!" Duo laughed. "Are you telling me she was your friend growing up? Wufei, was she your girlfriend!"  
  
"She was my friend. We were too young for anything else." Wufei replied.  
  
"Hard times were coming and mother said we had to move away. I still have the white rose you gave to me though." replied Mae Linh.  
  
"A white rose?! Wufei gave you a white rose?! Duo shouted.  
  
"It was a goodbye present." Wufei replied.  
  
Duo grabbed his heart like he was having a heart attack. "You mean to tell me the guy who hates women used to have a female playmate? How is that possible?!"  
  
"Shutup otoko, I'm trying to talk here!" Mae Linh shouted as she threw a nearby vase at Duo.  
  
Duo ducked his head just in time for the vase to go over his head. "Nevermind, I see how now."  
  
Heero came down from the stairs while Relena went up them. He went over towards the couch and saw Wufei laughing next to Mae Linh. That's weird. Heero sat down at the end of the small couch.  
  
Neo saw Heero and walked over to him. He started to glare at Heero.  
  
"Heero?" Duo said as he sat on the floor. "Your freaky sons staring at you again.  
  
Heero looked at Neo. No he's not... he's glaring not staring. "What is it ?"  
  
Neo walked up to him not letting his glare waver for a second. "Why are you being so friendly with my sister?  
  
Heero looked at Neo. "Why shouldn't I?"  
  
Neo glared at Heero and harshly whispered. "I'm her family, not you!"  
  
Oh now we're getting to the core...  
  
Heero looked at Neo. "Are you okay?"  
  
"She's mine, not yours!" Neo shouted.  
  
Heero continued to look at Neo. "She's my daughter and you're my son."  
  
Neo grew red with anger. "She's mine, stay away from her."  
  
Duo got off the floor and sat beside Heero. "Maybe he's jealous, Heero." Duo whispered to Heero.  
  
Neo continued to glare at Heero. "Stay away from my family."  
  
"Why?" Heero replied.  
  
"You'll hurt them." Neo replied.  
  
"I'm not after your mother or your sister." Heero answered back.  
  
"You'll hurt them." Neo simply repeated.  
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Heero.  
  
Relena was starting to come down the stairs until she heard Heero and Neo's voice. She stopped at the top middle of the railing.  
  
"You'll leave, I know you will." Neo replied.  
  
"You don't trust me?" Heero asked.  
  
"I don't trust many." Neo replied.  
  
"I'll vouch for that!" Michael interrupted.  
  
Neo continued to glare at Heero as he walked off to another room.  
  
Duo looked over at Heero. "Heero, you have royally pissed off your kid."  
  
Relena finished going down the stairs and sat by Heero. She grew quiet. "I'm sorry. Neo's never been very trusting. He won't be like Rei or the others, Heero. You'll have to make the first move."  
  
"First move?" Heero asked.  
  
"You have to prove to him that you'll always love and be here for your family." Relena replied.  
  
"How?" Heero asked.  
  
"Show it." Relena replied.  
  
Heero gazed wide-eyed at Relena. "You mean like...hold his hand?"  
  
Relena met Heero's gaze. "A little more than that, Heero."  
  
Heero stood silent. "Hmmm...I can't do that."  
  
"It's either that or see glares and hear threats for the rest of your life." Relena replied.  
  
Heero closed his eyes and looked away from Relena. "I'll think about it." 


	13. Heero Shouts...For Relena?!

This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Thirteen: Heero Shouts...For Relena?!  
  
"Anybody want to come with me to see the manager?" Relena asked.  
  
"We'll come!" Catherine shouted out. "Jimmy, grab your coat!"  
  
Trowa just glanced at her.  
  
Relena, Jimmy and Catherine went inside the circus tent...  
  
"Hey, Cathy!" Legato called out.  
  
"Hey, Legato!" Catherine shouted back. "What are you doing?"  
  
Relena watched Catherine flirting with Legato. "Catherine, let's go." Relena asked as she moved to the manager's tent.  
  
"Okay, would you watch Jimmy for me?" Catherine asked.  
  
"Sure!" Legato laughed out. He watched Relena and Catherine exit the tent. He looked over at Jimmy. "Hey Jimmy, you want a sucker?"  
  
Jimmy just stared at the candy and shook his head no as he started to walk off.  
  
Damn kid... Legato thought as he stuck some suckers in the back of Jimmy's hood as he walked off.  
  
"Hey, Legato!" Rouge called out.  
  
"Hey, Rouge." Legato replied.  
  
"Did he take it?" Rouge asked.  
  
"No, but I stuck some in his hood. Maybe some of the others will eat it." Legato replied.  
  
Later right before bedtime...  
  
"Mom has to perform tomorrow? Do our dads too?" asked Michael.  
  
"No." Jimmy replied.  
  
"Well, Duo must've been relieved!" Michael said. "Hey Jimmy, will you take that coat off already? Your making me warm just looking at you."  
  
Jimmy removed his coat but Michael noticed something fall.  
  
"Whoah, Jimmy! You got candy!" Michael shouted as he looked at the suckers that fell on the floor.  
  
Jimmy just looked at the ground.  
  
"Who gave them to you?" Michael asked as he stuck one of the suckers into his mouth.  
  
"Jerk." Jimmy replied.  
  
"Oh? Legato, huh?" asked Michael.  
  
Jimmy shook his head yes.  
  
Michael swirled the sucker in his mouth and took it out. "Hey, these are pretty good! You guys want some?"  
  
"Sure!" Dominic shouted as he stuck one into his mouth. "Hey, these are pretty good! Want one, Jimmy?"  
  
"No." Jimmy replied.  
  
"Well, do you want one Neo?" Michael asked as he held out a sucker. Neo slapped it away.  
  
"What about us?!" Mingh Loh shouted.  
  
"Here." Michael replied as he handed a sucker to Rei and Mingh Loh.  
  
"Hey, it's getting close to bedtime guys." Hilde said as she came into the childrens' room. "Let's go, Michael."  
  
"Do I have to?" Michael whined. Hilde looked at Michael sternly until he got up and followed her to the bathroom.  
  
The next day at lunchtime...  
  
"Honey, aren't you hungry?" Hilde asked Michael over the kitchen table.  
  
"Not really." Michael sniffed as he moved his food around with his fork.  
  
"Are you sniffling, Michael?" Hilde asked. "Did you catch a cold?"  
  
"I'm not the only one, see?" Michael said as he pointed to Jimmy, Neo, and Dominic. Jimmy was sniffling while Dominic and Neo were wiping their runny noses on their shirts.  
  
Quatre looked over at his son. "Dominic, why don't you go blow your nose?"  
  
"I can't blow my nose by myself, yet." Dominic replied.  
  
Quatre looked at Dorothy. "Dorothy?"  
  
"Nope, you have to learn sometime." Dorothy said sticking another piece of meat in her mouth.  
  
Quatre moaned slightly as he grabbed Dominic and started to take him upstairs.  
  
"Dominic?" Quatre asked. "Could you please not wipe your nose on my sweater?"  
  
Dominic looked at Quatre's sweater. "Sorry."  
  
"Poor Dominic." Michael replied taking another bite of his corn.  
  
"Michael, you need to blow your nose, too." Hilde said.  
  
"Mommy, I don't want to!" whined Michael.  
  
"Duo, would you take him?" Hilde asked.  
  
"Hilde, I don't want to!" whined Duo.  
  
"Please, Duo?" Hilde replied sweetly.  
  
"Ewww...Let's go kid." Duo finally replied. "Don't forget about Neo, Heero."  
  
Relena looked at Heero. Heero got up and moved toward Neo.  
  
Neo looked at Heero. I have to go with him? Eww.  
  
Neo followed closely to Heero as they went up the stairs.  
  
"Don't even think of rubbing your nose on me." Heero said.  
  
"Your not worthy enough." Neo replied.  
  
Later that day when the boys were upstairs and everyone else was chilling in the living room or the kitchen...  
  
"Can you believe all the boys are sick?" Mingh Loh said to Rei. "They sure did catch a heck of a cold."  
  
Rei just ignored her and walked up to Heero on the small couch.  
  
"What is it?" Heero asked.  
  
She held out her arms.  
  
"I think she wants picked up, Heero." Quatre whispered to him.  
  
Heero just looked at her and closed his eyes.  
  
He's not going to. Rei thought. Heero opened his eyes when he felt her small hand on his knee. Rei lifted herself up onto Heero's lap.  
  
Everyone just stared to see what Heero would do, especially Relena.  
  
Heero did nothing until Rei put her hands around his neck.  
  
"R-Relena!" Heero shouted as if he was in danger.  
  
Relena came out of the kitchen to see why Heero shouted. "Well, well Rei. How did you manage that?"  
  
Rei just smiled at her mother.  
  
"Help me." Heero said as Duo came out of the kitchen and bursted out laughing at the sight.  
  
Relena looked at her daughter. "She's not going to hurt you, she just wants you to hold her."  
  
Heero just looked at Relena with pleading eyes.  
  
"Heero, be a man!" Duo laughed. Then he looked seriously at Heero. "Heero, your mission is to hold your daughter. Don't chicken out!" he started laughing again.  
  
Heero looked over at Duo. "Hilde, go get your son."  
  
"Why?" Hilde asked. "Are you going to be mean to Duo?"  
  
Duo kept laughing and wasn't paying attention at all. "Yes."  
  
"Okay, then!" Hilde said as she brought Michael downstairs. "Go over to your Uncle Heero, he wants to talk to you."  
  
Michael went over to Heero. "Why's my dad laughing so hard?" he asked.  
  
"That's not important right now. You like candy, right?" Heero asked still hoping Rei would let go of him soon.  
  
"Yes!" Michael shouted.  
  
Heero whispered something to Michael that put a huge grin on his face.  
  
Michael came running up to Duo and jumped on his lap.  
  
"-What the?" Duo said as he looked at Michael. "Hey, kid. What do you want?"  
  
Michael smiled. "To say I love you!"  
  
"Umm...w-what?" Duo asked again.  
  
"To say I love you with my entire heart and soul daddy!" Michael said as he hung onto his neck and kissed his cheek.  
  
"What? Hey-why are you-what's going-is this a-" Duo stuttered.  
  
Heero grinned. Now who's laughing. 


	14. Smiles and Suckers.

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Fourteen: Smiles and Suckers.  
  
Hilde laughed. "Come on, Relena."  
  
Relena laughed. "Alright. Rei, go get the other children so we can take some early christmas pictures."  
  
Rei let go of Heero's neck and hopped off his lap to go upstairs. All the kids soon rushed downstairs.  
  
"Christmas pictures?" Duo asked Hilde. "Do we really have to take pictures?"  
  
Hilde laughed. "Of course, Duo! Wait, this is our first photo of the fathers too, isn't it?"  
  
Relena smiled. "It sure is."  
  
Hilde smiled at Duo. "Then we have to take extra pictures!"  
  
Dorothy grabbed a nice silver camera with a time-stopper on it. "Who's first?"  
  
"Let's take a couple of pictures of all of us." Relena said.  
  
"Then we'll take pictures of each of the families!" Hilde continued.  
  
"Okay, guys get in the center, kids up front, and ladies on the side!" Dorothy shouted.  
  
Everyone got themselves arranged while Dorothy fixed the timer on the camera.  
  
"Why do we have to take two pictures?" Duo asked.  
  
"The kids always act up somehow when we take the picture, so we have a better chance of a nice picture with two shots!"  
  
Duo just groaned.  
  
"Okay, ready!" Dorothy said as she scrambled to the side of Relena. "Everybody smile!"  
  
Everyone smiled except the guys.  
  
Dorothy went back to reset the camera. "Okay, it's ready!" she said as she got back into her regular position. "Now smile or you'll give the kids a bath for a week!"  
  
It was odd, but everyone smiled. Even Heero tried curling his mouth up a little.  
  
"Good!" Dorothy shouted as she got the picture. "Dominic?"  
  
"Whats up?" Dominic asked.  
  
"Why are you standing like that?" Dorothy asked as she looked at the picture.  
  
Dominic sniffed and pointed at Michael who was giggling. "He pinched my butt, mom."  
  
"Well, should we take another picture?" Relena suggested. The guys all groaned.  
  
Four pictures later...  
  
"Oh, perfect! The kids are behaving and the guys are all 'trying' to smile." Dorothy replied as she looked at the picture. "Alright, time for family photos."  
  
The guys groaned again.  
  
"Let's go Mae Linh's family, My family, Relena's family, Catherine's family, and Hilde's family!" Dorothy said as she got behind the camera.  
  
Wufei's family acted well in their first picture and so did Quatre's.  
  
In Relena's photo though...  
  
"For the last time, Neo. Please smile!" Relena pleaded to Neo.  
  
Neo sniffled as he looked at Heero. He shouldn't be in this picture.  
  
"Smile already, Neo!" Michael shouted. "Or we'll never get done!"  
  
"Fine, I'll grin." Neo finally agreed.  
  
Relena smiled as she told Dorothy to take the picture.  
  
"Say cheese!" Dorothy shouted.  
  
"Cheese!" Relena and the kids shouted. Mere seconds before it snapped though, Neo stepped on Heero's foot...hard.  
  
Heero did his best to ignore the aching sensation running through his foot. He may have fractured a bone. Oohh...  
  
"Good job, Neo!" Dorothy smiled. "You have the biggest grin of them all!"  
  
Neo looked at Heero and continued to grin.  
  
The rest of the pictures were taken in no time.  
  
"Good job." Relena commented. "Just in time, too. We need to get going. Do you guys want to come with us?"  
  
"Where to?" Duo asked.  
  
Hilde laughed. "To perform at the circus, silly!"  
  
Catherine looked at the others. "If they come, manager may want them to perform."  
  
"That's true." Relena said. "Do you want to take care of-"  
  
"No!" all the guys shouted.  
  
Relena blinked. "Okay. We'll take them with us then."  
  
"Be careful." Trowa warned.  
  
"It's fine." Dorothy replied. "We have friends who will keep an eye out. Ready to go girls?"  
  
The girls shook their heads yes while the kids grabbed their coats.  
  
Later at home...  
  
"Alright, we get the whole couch to ourselves for once!" Duo said as he stretched.  
  
"Finally, some time alone." Quatre replied.  
  
"Away from those kids." Trowa continued.  
  
Heero laid his head back on the couch. No more staring, glaring, or hugging. This is the life...  
  
At the Circus...  
  
"Okay, kids! You mind Legato and his friends now!" Catherine shouted out. "We'll be back as soon as we're done."  
  
The girls exited Legato's circus tent.  
  
"Hey, do you have sniff any more of those suckers?" Michael sniffled.  
  
"You ate them, did you?!" Legato replied.  
  
Dominic coughed. "Yeah, they were great!"  
  
"Sorry kids, I'm out of those 'special' suckers." Legato replied.  
  
"Awwww..." Michael and Dominic moaned.  
  
Legato looked at Rouge and her partner, Brigitte. "Why don't you girls take Rei and Mingh Loh to your tent and show them your...makeup... or something."  
  
"I don't care about makeup!" Mingh Loh shouted.  
  
"How come you're trying to get rid of the girls?" Michael asked.  
  
Legato moved in closer to whisper. "You know, I have a few suckers left, but only enough for you guys."  
  
"I hear that!" Mingh Loh shouted.  
  
"I have suckers for you too, though!" Rouge said. "There in my tent just beyond the river. It's not far girls."  
  
The girls looked at her suspiciously.  
  
"Mother will be mad if we disobey them." Mingh Loh whispered to Rei. "Let's just go."  
  
Rei shook her head yes while they left the tent along with Rouge and Brigitte.  
  
"Oh, I suddenly remembered! I just ordered a big shipment of those suckers. Maybe they have arrived!" Legato said as he left the tent.  
  
"That guys weird." Michael said.  
  
"sniff. Jerk." Jimmy simply said.  
  
"Look, here they are!" Legato said as he brought in a whole bag full of suckers. "Go ahead and take all you want!"  
  
Michael and Dominic moved over to the suckers and had some. Jimmy and Neo simply watched them eat.  
  
"I'll be back kids!" Legato shouted as he left the tent again. "I need to do something!"  
  
"He left us again?" Dominic said. "He's not a very good babysitter."  
  
Neo sniffed the air. "Something smells funny."  
  
"It's strawberry or something!" Michael said. "See? It's coming frroomm thee..." Michael's head started to feel dizzy. "I think my colds getting bad again."  
  
"I-I-I feeeelll a little strange tooooo..." Dominic said as he grabbed his head.  
  
"Something's wrong, Neo. My visions becominng bllurrryyy..." Jimmy said to Neo. "Weee neeeeed to get out of heeere."  
  
Suddenly, Neo fainted.  
  
"Neo!" Michael shouted as he tried running to him. He wasn't getting very far though because the world was becoming very blurry.  
  
Jimmy ran out of the circus tent. "Somebody, Hel-" he said until someone grabbed him. 


	15. The Keys Revealed

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Fifteen: The Key's Revealed!  
  
"Well, that was fun!" Catherine shouted as they stepped into the tent. "I miss being in the spotlight!"  
  
"Catherine, where are the children?" Dorothy asked as she looked around the room.  
  
Suddenly Rouge came through the door. "Here are your girls!"  
  
"Okay, where are our boys?" Dorothy replied.  
  
"Well, they have to be here somewhere. I'll go look." Rouge said as she exited the tent.  
  
Fifteen minutes later...  
  
"Daddy!" Mingh Loh shouted as she ran through the door.  
  
"Mingh Loh? What are you doing here?" Wufei asked.  
  
Mae Linh stepped through the door with Rei.  
  
"Is the show over?" Quatre asked.  
  
Mae Linh bit her lip. "We can't find the kids."  
  
"W-what do you mean you can't find the kids? There are two right there." Duo said pointing at Mingh Loh and Rei.  
  
"The boys are missing." Mae Linh replied. "The girls and the boys were seperated. The girls are looking everywhere over there right now."  
  
The guys looked at each other and ran over to the circus...  
  
"Is it them? Is it the scientists?" Quatre asked as he ran toward Dorothy.  
  
For once, no sarcasm came out of her mouth.  
  
The next morning...  
  
The guys came down to breakfast and saw the females of the house. Just the females.  
  
Heero sighed. It was weird sitting down on the couch without Neo staring at him.  
  
Quatre just drank his coffee quietly.  
  
They all just sat...quietly.  
  
"I can't stand this!" Duo shouted. "How can we not do anything!"  
  
"Like what?!" Quatre shouted back. "We don't know where or when the scientists are now!"  
  
Duo sat back down and put his head into his hands. "We have to do something...anything..."  
  
"What should we do then!" Quatre shouted. "Do you know! Does anyone know!" he asked as he turned around to face the pilots.  
  
"We have one clue." Heero said as he looked at Rei.  
  
"You have a clue!" the girls shouted.  
  
Heero looked at Rei. "I have made a promise not to tell. Rei must tell you."  
  
Everyone looked at Rei who was holding her teddy bear..  
  
"Rei? Sweety? What is it you need to tell us." Relena asked.  
  
Rei bit her bottom lip.  
  
"Honey, mommy won't be mad. Promise." Relena said.  
  
"Dr. J. told me Heero knows the key that I hold." Rei finally answered.  
  
"Dr. J? when did you-" Relena began.  
  
"Heero knows the key that you hold!" Hilde shouted. "Well, what is it?"  
  
"I don't know." Heero replied.  
  
"Well, it has to be something of your daughter's, Relena." Dorothy said. "It has to be in the kids' room."  
  
Relena looked at her daughter. "We need to look at your things, Rei. May we?"  
  
Rei looked up at her mother. "To save Neo, yes."  
  
Relena looked at Heero. "Come, Heero. We need to see if anything jogs your memory.  
  
Relena picked up Rei and went upstairs to Rei's room. Heero slowly staggered.  
  
Dr. J. couldn't you stop the mysterious clues and just tell me? Heero thought as he entered Rei's room. He loooked around the room. "I don't see anything that's a key, Relena."  
  
Relena looked at Rei as she sat her down. "Rei, why don't you bring out some of your things from the closet?  
  
Rei shook her head yes and opened the closet door. She put a pile of her things on the floor.  
  
Heero just thumbed through the pile. "I still don't see anything, Relena."  
  
"Is there anything else you have, Rei?" Relena answered. Rei sadly shook her head no.  
  
Heero started thumbing through other things in the room.  
  
"Heero, Dr. J. said Rei had it, not the other kids." Relena tried to reason.  
  
"Maybe he got confused which kid had it." Duo said as he peered through the door.  
  
Relena looked at them. "I doubt it, but it's the only thing we can do."  
  
Three of the guys came into the room while Relena and Rei left.  
  
"Don't rip or break anything either!" Hilde shouted looking at Duo. "You do, and you'll see a side of Michael that you've never seen before!"  
  
After the guys get done rummaging through the now complete mess that used to be the kids' room they sat down on the bed.  
  
Quatre put his hands on his chin. "There's nothing here but tons of toys and DBZ merchandise."  
  
Duo just threw an old poetry book against the wall.  
  
"Hey, be careful!" Quatre shouted at Duo. "Dominic loves that book!"  
  
"Does it even matter?" Duo said as he plopped himself down on the bed. "You think he'll ever even read it again?"  
  
Quatre just threw a mean look at Duo. "Don't say things like that. We'll find them again, Duo."  
  
Wufei just stood beside the door watching the fomer pilots. "You have to be serious, Quatre. We have no clue where they are, when they are, we don't have any worthy time machines, and we don't know where any of the scientists are."  
  
All the pilots looked viciously at Wufei.  
  
"You only believe that because your daughter's safe and sound!" Duo shouted at Wufei.  
  
"Perhaps, but you know it's true." Wufei said as he went out of the room.  
  
Heero just got up and went downstairs. He flung himself on the big couch. The girls looked at him. By Heero's expression they didn't need to ask if he found anything. Hilde just walked off into the kitchen and Dorothy and Catherine went upstairs. Relena just sat silent and looked at Rei sitting in the corner. Rei went over to her mother and sat on her lap.  
  
Rei looked up at her mother. "Will we ever find Neo?"  
  
Relena couldn't meet her daughters sad gaze with her own eyes. Rei just started quietly crying on Relena shoulder.  
  
Heero looked at Rei. If only I knew what I was looking for. Heero thought as he watched Relena rock Rei back and forth. I didn't recognize anything in that entire room...  
  
Rei kept crying, but she dropped her teddy bear.  
  
Relena looked at the ground. "Oh, honey you dropped your teddy bear."  
  
Heero looked at the ground and suddenly sat up. Rei's teddy bear was in such horrible condition it was hard to tell it was a teddy bear. Yet, Heero looked hard at the bear...  
  
"Relena, is that your bear?" Heero asked.  
  
Relena picked up Rei's bear and handed it to her. "It used to be. You gave it to me for my birthday, remember?"  
  
Heero looked wide-eyed at Relena. Then he started to remember something from the past...  
  
"Where are you going, Heero?" Dr. J. said as he watched Heero walk away.  
  
"Tomorrow's Relena's birthday and I want to get something for her." Heero said.  
  
Dr. J. handed Heero a teddy bear. "Here, give her this." Dr. J. said as he grinned.  
  
Heero looked at the bear. "Are you serious?"  
  
"Girls like little things like that." Dr. J. said. "What else did you want to give her?"  
  
Heero thought about it...I have no clue.  
  
Dr. J. looked at the expression on Heero's face. "Heero, just give it to her. She'll appreciate the gesture.  
  
Heero looked at the bear. "As soon as I run some tests on it."  
  
Dr. J. just looked at Heero. "Heero, don't you trust me?"  
  
Heero just glared at Dr. J. as he left the room.  
  
"Relena, let me see that." Heero said as he got off the couch.  
  
Relena looked at Heero. "It's Rei's now, Heero. You must ask her."  
  
Heero looked at Rei. "May I see your bear?"  
  
Rei looked at him and shook her head yes. Heero took the teddy bear from Rei and went upstairs to his room. He took a pocketknife and cut the bear open at the seam. He stuck one of his hands inside the bear.  
  
He came back down the stairs and saw that everyone was in the living room now.  
  
"Hey, Heero. Where'd you go?" Duo asked.  
  
Heero looked at Duo. "Found it." he said as he held up a small silver key in his fingers. 


	16. An Old Friend.

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Sixteen: An Old Friend.  
  
To the kidnapped children...  
  
"Wakey, wakey!" Professor G. said towards some Gundams.  
  
Michael opened up his eyes and saw the scientists. "What?" he said groggily.  
  
"Wake up!" Professor G. shouted again.  
  
"Leave me alone!" Dominic shouted back. (He's not a morning person.)  
  
Michael looked around at his surroundings. "You know, this thing sort of looks familiar."  
  
"It's our fathers' machines." Michael heard Jimmy say over an intercom.  
  
"Oh, I don't want to go through this again!" Michael shouted as he tried to figure out how to get out. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any buttons.  
  
The Dr.'s laughed. "It's no use! You are only allowed to use the speakers right now."  
  
"Will you shut the hell up already, I'm trying to sleep!" Dominic shouted.  
  
The Dr.'s just looked at each other.  
  
"Dominic, wake up already! We've been kidnapped!" Michael shouted.  
  
"Will you-kidnapped?" Dominic said starting to realize something was wrong. He looked around and realized he was in a machine again.  
  
"How come that one hasn't woken up yet?" Dr. S asked as he looked at Jimmy and Neo's gundam.  
  
Professor G. shrugged. "Will you wake up!"  
  
"I've been awake." Neo answered.  
  
The scientists looked at each other. "Good, well this time history won't repeat itself."  
  
"Destroying the asteroids won't do any good though!" Dominic shouted. "If one little piece gets away then the earth will be completely unliveable!"  
  
The scientists all laughed at Dominic's comment.  
  
Neo glared at the scientists. "Don't or you'll be sorry."  
  
"Sorry?" Professor G. repeated.  
  
Neo glared at them. "Get rid of me, or you'll regret it."  
  
The doctors ignored Neo's comments. Dr. S. went over to a control panel. "Now take a deep breath kids."  
  
Michael took a deep breath.  
  
"I don't think they met literally, Michael." Dominic replied.  
  
Master O. just looked at Professor H. "They haven't changed a bit."  
  
Professor G. grinned wildly. "They will in a few seconds." he said as he set an automatic zero system to it's limit.  
  
"No, not this again!" Michael screamed. He felt as if his head was going to burst.  
  
"Professor G. are you should take them up that high?" Dr. S. replied. "You may push them towards insanity."  
  
Proffessor G. grinned. "Don't worry, we still have two more."  
  
To the living room of the former gundam pilots...  
  
"Heero, you found it!" Duo shouted as he rushed up to him. "Do you know where it goes to? Do you know how it will help us? Do you know if the kids were there?"  
  
"Do you know if you can shutup?" Mae Linh said to Duo.  
  
"Heero, please tell me you know where that goes?" Relena asked as she stood up and put Rei down. Rei moved over to Mingh Loh and exited the room.  
  
"Yes, but you can't come." Heero said to all of the women. "It's too dangerous."  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Duo shouted happily. "Let's move!"  
  
Outside by the car...  
  
"You be careful, Duo Maxwell." Hilde warned.  
  
"Aren't I always?" Duo replied.  
  
"Just find Dominic and bring him back." Dorothy said.  
  
Quatre looked at her. "I'll try."  
  
"Well, let's stop talking so the guys can get out of here!" Catherine shouted at everyone.  
  
The guys hopped into the girls' vehicle and headed off.  
  
One hour later...  
  
"Ummm...Heero?" Duo asked as he continued to walk through the seamingless empty space. "Where are we?"  
  
Heero looked at Duo. "The outer limits before the air is unbreathable."  
  
Trowa looked at their surroundings. "There is nothing here, Heero."  
  
Heero ignored Trowa. It has to be here...  
  
Two hours later...  
  
"Heero, where are we going?" Duo whined. "My feet are beginning to hurt."  
  
"Whatever was here is gone now." Wufei replied.  
  
"Don't say that!" Quatre shouted. "I'm sure whatever Dr. J. said had some reason to it still!" Quatre looked at Heero. "Heero, whatever you're looking for it has to be here. We can't give up hope!"  
  
Heero looked at Quatre and nodded his head yes. He was trying his best to figure out where he was. The coordinates have to be right. It has to be here. It has to be...  
  
Suddenly, Heero stopped and saw an old decrepid tree.  
  
"How in the world could that thing still be standing?" Duo asked.  
  
Heero grinned. I found it.  
  
Quatre looked at Heero, and opened his eyes wide. "I would have never guessed this place! How did you remember, Heero?"  
  
Heero ignored Quatre and moved forward.  
  
"Why are we walking towards some old tree that's barely alive?" Duo moaned.  
  
"It's the way inside." Quatre said as he ran up and pushed up one of the branches that looked like it was going to fall off.  
  
Then all at once, a secret entrance came up from the ground. A set of metal stairs could be seen.  
  
"An underground base?" Duo asked Quatre. "Is it one of yours?"  
  
Quatre looked at Duo. "That's a nice thought."  
  
Heero walked down the cold, metal stairs. He pushed open a door and entered...  
  
A library.  
  
"A library." Duo stated. "Why are we in a library?"  
  
"Just follow Heero." Quatre answered.  
  
Heero moved through the vast library. He twisted down the strange isles as if he knew exactly where he was going. Suddenly he stopped at one section.  
  
"Why'd we stop?" Duo asked.  
  
Heero pointed to a book on the shelf and then picked it up.  
  
"War and Peace?" Duo replied. "I didn't know this was still even in publication."  
  
"It stopped publication in 2098 actually." Quatre replied.  
  
"Really?! This is a classic! Can I have it?" Duo asked.  
  
Quatre laughed as he motioned for Heero to open it. Inside was only a place for a small key.  
  
"Well, I guess not!" laughed Duo.  
  
Heero grabbed the silver key he hid in his pant pocket and put it into the book.  
  
The book case lifted up in front of them.  
  
"Wow, cool!" Duo shouted. "Hey, Quatre? How did you and Heero know about this place?"  
  
"It was a hidden base Lieutenant Noin had made to hide mobile suits in the Sank kingdom so they wouldn't be found." Quatre answered.  
  
"Oh, yeah. You came here for a little while, didn't you?" Duo asked.  
  
Quatre looked at Duo. "Yeah, to protect-"  
  
"Would you stop reminiscing already!" Wufei shouted from inside the base. "Get in here."  
  
Quatre and Duo walked in. They saw Heero and Trowa staring at something behind some Gundams.  
  
"What's wrong?" Quatre asked.  
  
Heero pointed over by some gundams and they all watched as Dr. J. slowly came out. 


	17. Geoci-whats-its?

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Seventeen: Geoci-whats-its?  
  
"Well, well, well. It's nice to have some visitors for once." Dr. J. laughed as he saw the former pilots.  
  
Duo ran up to him and pinned him against the wall. "Where's Michael?"  
  
Dr. J. looked at him. "Well, if you let me go, then maybe we can talk."  
  
Quatre ran over to both of them. "Is Dominic alright? Where is he?!"  
  
"He's not here." Dr. J said. "Will you please let go of me now?"  
  
"Where are they?" Trowa asked.  
  
"Well, if you just let go of me then maybe I could tell you." Dr. J. said as he looked at Duo through his thick glasses.  
  
Dr. J...Heero growled. He went over to Dr. J. and pushed Duo out of the way. He grabbed the doctor and pinned him up, while pulling a knife out of his pocket and putting it under Dr. J.'s chin. "No more small talk. Where are the kids?"  
  
Dr. J looked at Heero. "Well, well. I didn't know you adapted to your happy family life already."  
  
Heero held the knife closer.  
  
"Okay, okay!" Dr. J. shouted. "The kids are not in this time, but I can take you to when they are!"  
  
"You have more time machines?" Wufei asked.  
  
"Seven of them." Dr. J. replied.  
  
Wufei looked around. "Where? There is nothing but Gundams in this place."  
  
Dr. J. looked at Wufei. "I designed them in seven of the Gundams."  
  
"Seven?!" Duo asked. "How did you do that?!"  
  
Dr. J. simply replied. "I knew the Dr.'s would plan something so I made five out of the ones you used last time." Dr. J. looked at the pilots. "You took so long though, and there wasn't anything else to do, so I decided to make a couple more."  
  
Duo looked at Dr. J. "You mean you made two extra because you were bored?"  
  
"Enough chit chat!" Heero growled. "Are the scientists still planning to blow up the asteriod?"  
  
"Well, not quite." Dr. J. replied.  
  
"Not quite! What's that mean?!" Quatre shouted. "What are they doing with my Dominic?!"  
  
"Well, they're..." Dr. J. said slowly. "They are planning to..."  
  
"Planning to what?" Heero growled.  
  
Dr. J. looked at Heero. "If I tell you, you may get excited with that knife Heero."  
  
Heero glared at Dr. J. "If you don't tell me, I'll get excited with this knife right now."  
  
Dr. J. looked at Heero's eyes. The boy isn't kidding..."Alright, then I will tell you."  
  
Heero looked at Dr. J. "Talk."  
  
Dr. J. looked at Heero. "Do you know what Geocilacinabenaphilotrisene is?"  
  
Heero just looked at Dr. J. "There is no such thing."  
  
"Yes, there is!" Dr. J. shouted. "After the fate of the colonies the Earth created it to save itself."  
  
"So this Geocilatoohoo whatchamacallit is that stuff that saved the sank kingdom?" Duo asked.  
  
"Yes, it was." Dr. J. said. "Some believed that if we had done a...different method...then we would have succeeded in saving the entire earth. Our leader, at the time Ms. Relena Dorlain, didn't want to risk it."  
  
"Risk what?" Heero asked.  
  
Dr. J. looked at Heero. "Risk all the lives on everyone on Earth. You see, the scientists had created a radical form of-"  
  
"Don't say that long word again." Duo whined.  
  
"Fine then, we'll shorten them. The scientists had created a radical form of Geoci called Geoxi. They wanted to send up four mobile suits into each of the hemispheres. They would explode while they were filled with Geoxi. The earth would be blanketed from the explosion, and all would be safe."  
  
"Well, why didn't Relena want to risk it?" Quatre asked.  
  
Dr. J. looked hard at Quatre. "There had been plenty of proof that Geoci worked beforehand, but the scientists had no proof that Geoxi would work. With it's extreme unstableness, each mobile suit could have very well caused an explosion the size of a hydrogen bomb."  
  
Quatre looked at Duo and laughed nervously. "Yeah, I don't think I would want to risk that either."  
  
"They wanted to though." Dr. J. said. "The first time they didn't think they would need such a dangerous approach as Geoxi yet. When you showed up and ruined their plans, they decided they would go to plan B."  
  
"Plan B?" Duo asked. "How do you know they went to plan B?"  
  
Dr. J. smiled. "They may have had some of the girls things tapped, but I also have a few taps on them too."  
  
Heero looked at Dr. J. "That sounds like something you'd do. So, what is plan B?"  
  
Dr. J. looked at Heero."Well, they plan on using Neo as the destroyer of the asteroid, while the other three will take the Gundams to the correct coordinates and..."  
  
"And?" insisted Quatre.  
  
"Let the gundams blow up with Geoxi." Dr. J. replied.  
  
"What?!" Duo shouted. "They don't know what will happen?!"  
  
"Yes, but that has always been why we work in secret. We have never known the results." Dr. J. replied.  
  
Heero looked at Dr. J. briefly. "Your not making sense. You were afraid I'd kill you if you talked." Heero growled. "Tell the whole truth."  
  
Dr. J. looked at him. "I told you the important stuff, just jump into the Gundams already?!"  
  
Heero brought the knife even closer to Dr. J.'s throat and growled.  
  
Dr. J. looked at Heero and sighed. "They only plan on having Neo come back alive."  
  
"What?!" Duo, Quatre, and Trowa shouted.  
  
Dr. J. looked at them. "They don't care about the Earth. They never have!"  
  
The pilots looked at Dr. J.  
  
Dr. J. looked at the pilots. "They plan on letting the Earth suffer, and just save the colonies. They are only hitting the asteroid so it doesn't hit any of the colonies that were in it's way. With no Earth, there will be no more war. They wil let Neo survive to protect the colonies, but they don't need four children to protect the colonies." Dr. J. looked at the pilots again. "Besides if they do, they have two children to fall back on."  
  
The pilots stood silent.  
  
"They will not take Mingh Loh!" Wufei shouted.  
  
"They won't, unless they need to." Dr. J. replied.  
  
"Why are they keeping Neo?" Trowa asked quietly.  
  
Dr. J. smiled. "Like father, like son."  
  
Heero growled at Dr. J. "Or so they believe!" Dr. J. quickly replied.  
  
Duo made his hand into a fist. "No one's going to take my family away again. Nobody!" Duo yelled as he went toward the nearby Deathscythe he used last time. "How's this thing work?"  
  
"It's already set." Dr. J. said. "Just push in the little lever on the right when you want to leave and come back.  
  
The guys quickly got into their replicated models.  
  
This time they won't get away... the guys thought as they pushed in their levers.  
  
"Good luck." Dr. J. said. He started to walk away when he saw something.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" Dr. J. shouted. 


	18. Good News and Bad News

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Eighteen: Good News and Bad News.  
  
"Where are we?" Duo asked as he looked around him.  
  
Heero checked the coordinates. "This must be where the kids are at."  
  
Quatre checked his coordinates. "Wait! This is about five minutes before we left the first time!"  
  
"Great, then we won't accidentally run into ourselves." Duo replied. "Now where are those kids..."  
  
To the kids...  
  
"Are you ready?" Professor G. asked Neo.  
  
"Yes." Neo replied.  
  
"What is your mission?" Dr. S. asked Neo.  
  
"To destroy the asteroid." Neo replied.  
  
"Good. What are your missions?" Dr. S asked the other children.  
  
"To sacrifice ourselves in an effort to save the colonies." they said stoically together.  
  
"Open the roof!" Professor G. shouted. The roof was opened and the kids moved out.  
  
Back to the guys...  
  
"Look, there's one of them!" Duo shouted as he saw Deathscythe coming toward them. "I'll handle this one!"  
  
Duo moved toward the Deathscythe. "Michael, are you in there?!"  
  
"How do you know my name?" A voice growled from behind the Gundam.  
  
"Michael! Hey, you want a banana-hot fudge sundae?!" Duo yelled sure his plan would work again.  
  
"No, I must accomplish my mission." Michael replied monotonously.  
  
"What?" Duo replied as he watched Michael fly away.  
  
They can't keep their old attitudes...Duo thought. Guess I better tell them. Duo spoke into his intercom. "Hey, pilots! They don't have any of there old attitude inside this time. They're completely brainwashed!"  
  
"Oh, that's not good!" Quatre shouted out as he saw the rest of the kids' Gundams coming. "What do we do?!"  
  
"Fight them!" Wufei yelled. He was about to start fighting the kids' Gundams when he realized something out of the corner of his eye. Fighting the kids were not only Deathscythe, Sandrock, Heavyarms, but Wing Zero and another Nataku. Yuy's going after Neo, so who could be in those mobile suits? "Who are you?!" he shouted.  
  
"Take a guess otoko!" he heard the other Nataku say to him.  
  
"Mingh Loh?!" Wufei shouted. "Onna, what are you doing here?!"  
  
"We are here to help my brother and our friends." Wing Zero replied.  
  
"Rei?!" Wufei shouted. Wufei shouted on his intercom. "We have a problem. Mingh Loh and Rei are here!"  
  
"Rei?!!" Heero shouted as he was moving towards Neo. "How?!"  
  
"My guess is they snuck on the van when we weren't looking." Quatre replied.  
  
Wufei looked at Mingh Loh. "Onna, go home right now!"  
  
"No, I will not back down! My friends need me!" Mingh Loh shouted through her intercom. "Besides, I fight better than you!"  
  
Wufei growled and didn't reply.  
  
"Rei, go back home now." Heero said calmly.  
  
Rei didn't answer.  
  
"Rei..." Heero began. "I have survived much, but I don't want to die by the hands of Relena. Go home."  
  
Rei just giggled.  
  
"Damn!" Duo shouted to the others. "How come these kids are twice as good as before! We can't even gang up on them!"  
  
Wing Zero came towards the Heavyarms. She waited for Mingh Loh to distract it. Then she went through the middle and sliced off it's leg.  
  
"That should slow him down." Mingh Loh said.  
  
A little while later...  
  
Michael, Jimmy, and Dominic's Gundams were put out of commission, but the kids didn't give up.  
  
"Our mission is to sacrifice ourselves for the good of the colonies." Michael said over his intercom.  
  
Duo stood still for a moment. "Oh no! They want to self-destruct!"  
  
"What?!" Quatre shouted. "Dominic, No!"  
  
"No, there has to be something around here! This can't be happening!" Duo cried out as he started to push all the buttons in his Deathscythe.  
  
"Calm down." Rei replied as she shot a bluish light onto the Deathscythe.  
  
"What? What in the heck am I doing?!" Michael shouted as he stopped himself from pushing a giant red button.  
  
"Michael, your back!" Duo shouted.  
  
"Hey, what's up Duo?!" Michael shouted back.  
  
"How did you do that?!" Quatre shouted at Rei.  
  
"The small button on your left that's blue." Mingh Loh replied. "Dr. J. said he forgot to tell you, so he showed us before we left."  
  
Quatre and Trowa pushed their blue buttons and shot a bluish light toward Dominic and Jimmy.  
  
"Hey, if you knew about that option the whole time...why didn't you use it in the first place?!" Duo shouted at them.  
  
"Well, we wanted to fight a little." Mingh Loh replied.  
  
Duo smacked his forehead. They're Wufei's and Heero's, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. "Wufei, did you hear your daughter?"  
  
Wufei didn't reply.  
  
"Well, Duo? What do I do now?" Michael asked.  
  
Duo looked at Michael's Deathsythe. "Get out, kid. There should be a little button on the side or something."  
  
Michael looked around. "Duo, all the little buttons got covered up. There isn't anything to push."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Duo.  
  
"Umm, Quatre?" Dominic interrupted. "Q-quatre? There's a clock with red numbers that seems to be counting down."  
  
"Yeah, I see that in mine, too. It's a broken clock." Michael replied to Dominic.  
  
The pilots looked at each other.  
  
"We have to get them out of there now!" Duo shouted.  
  
"Dominic, can you open your Gundam?" Quatre asked.  
  
"No, everything's sealed off." Dominic replied.  
  
Suddenly, an image of Professor G. appeared on everyone's screen. "We didn't think Dr. J. actually had anything to counter us, interesting. Too bad for him we're sore losers. How fast can you pilots move to deactivate the bombs and avoid those lovely space mines?" Professor G. laughed.  
  
"You know, I don't like the sound of that." Duo said.  
  
"Although, we are somewhat sporting. You just need to deactivate one bomb to deactivate all of them." Professor G. said right before he went off the screen.  
  
"Jimmy." Trowa asked. "What does your timer say?"  
  
Jimmy looked at his red-numbered clock. "Five minutes, nineteen seconds."  
  
Wufei looked over at the girls. "Get out of here now!"  
  
The girls left when Deathscythe started moving.  
  
"Aaahhh, Duuooo! Heelp Meeee!" Michael yelled as he started to move. Then Dominic and Jimmy's started to move away.  
  
"Wait up, kid!" Duo yelled as he tried to go after Michael but he saw that they were heading right into...  
  
"Oh no! Not now!" Duo yelled as he narrowly missed a space mine. "Michael, hang on!"  
  
Quatre caught up with Dominic, but Dominic's Sandrock started to fight him.  
  
"Quatre, what do I do?!" Dominic shouted.  
  
Quatre looked at Dominic. "Hang on, Dominic!" Quatre shouted as he narrowly missed Dominic's Gundam. Quatre took his shotels and sliced the the door open to Dominic's Gundam. "Jump out, Dominic!"  
  
Dominic jumped out while Quatre jumped in. Dominic moved to Quatre's Sandrock, but Dominic's Sandrock started to move again.  
  
"Oh, why me?!" Quatre shouted as he was flipped all over. He tried to concentrate on the timer. He shouted out on the intercom. "Pilots! I have some good news and bad news!"  
  
Trowa was fighting Jimmy's Gundam. "What's the good news?"  
  
"I'm in Dominic's Gundam!" Quatre shouted.  
  
Wufei shot through another wave of space mines. "What's the bad news?"  
  
"I know nothing about bombs!" Quatre shouted.  
  
Duo narrowly missed an attack from Michael's Gundam. "Quatre, after this we're going to have a talk about explosives one on one!"  
  
"Duo, what do I do?! The timer says two minutes and twenty nine seconds?!" Quatre shouted.  
  
"Oh shit!!" Duo yelled. "What's the wires look like?"  
  
Quatre did his best to get underneath the bomb. "There's a red, green, and blue one!"  
  
"Red, green, and blue one?" Duo asked. "Are you 100% positive there is not a yellow one?!" Duo said as he was locked in scythes with Michael.  
  
Quatre looked around. "I'm positive there's only two!"  
  
"Then one's a dummy wire!" Duo shouted.  
  
"Which one, Duo! We got one minute and thirty four seconds left!" Quatre yelled.  
  
"I can't be sure if I can't see it!" Duo shouted as Michael pushed his scythe back. "Most of the time it's the blue one!"  
  
"Are you sure?!" Quatre shouted.  
  
"Winner, cut the blue wire already!" Wufei shouted.  
  
"Alright, here goes nothing!" Quatre said as he took a knife out of his pocket and cut the blue wire.  
  
"Quatre, did the numbers stop?!" Duo yelled.  
  
"Yes, Duo!" Quatre shouted relieved. 2 seconds left? That was cutting it way too close. 


	19. Dangerous Things Come In Small Packages.

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Chapter Nineteen: Dangerous Things Come In 'Small' Packages.  
  
A little while later...  
  
The guys got the kids out of their wacked-out Gundams.  
  
"Ooh, nice! Roomy!" Michael shouted. "Yours is nicer than mine, Duo!"  
  
Duo looked at Michael and smiled. "Hey, pilots? Should we go see if Heero's okay?"  
  
"That would probably be best Du- no Dominic don't touch that!" Quatre shouted through the intercom. "I think Wufei and Trowa are already flying toward him now." he said as he watched Nataku and Heavyarms flying away.  
  
"Yeah, well I'll follow them as soon as I get the kid buckled up." Duo said.  
  
Michael looked around and pointed at everything he could. "Ooh, what's that Duo?! That too, Duo, what's that do?! Ooh Duo, what's this do?!"  
  
"No, no Michael! Don't touch that!!" Duo said as he stopped Michael from almost hitting the self- destruct button.  
  
To Heero...  
  
Heero looked at Neo. Neo looked at Heero.  
  
"Hey Heero, need some help?" Quatre shouted out.  
  
"No." Heero responded.  
  
"Heero, just press that blue switch on your left." Quatre said.  
  
"I already did." Heero replied.  
  
"Did it not work?" Wufei asked.  
  
Heero looked at the others. "He's fine now."  
  
"Then why don't you have him inside your Gundam?" Quatre asked.  
  
Heero looked at Sandrock. "He refuses too."  
  
"Neo, will you hurry up and get in so we can go home?!" Michael shouted out of Duo's intercom.  
  
Neo didn't reply and started to head down to colony L71.  
  
"Hey kid?! Where are you going?!" Duo shouted. "Heero, where the hell is your kid going?"  
  
Michael looked at Duo. "I'm telling mom you cussed in front of me."  
  
Duo looked at Michael. "No, please don't tell!" he whined.  
  
"Only if you promise that you'll get me some candy again." Michael said crossing his arms.  
  
"Candy?!" Duo whined. "I just saved you though kid!"  
  
"Fine." Michael said. "Then only if you kiss mommy under the mistletoe."  
  
Duo looked at Michael. "Uh-uh! Alright kid, I'll get you the candy."  
  
Michael just smiled at Duo. Duo just looked outside. "Hey, where did everyone go?!"  
  
"They all followed Neo." Michael replied. Duo just looked at Michael as he sped off toward L71.  
  
On L71 with Neo...  
  
"Well, I can't believe those stupid pilots interrupted again!" Professor G. said as he grabbed his coat and walked out of the hangar. "Let's get out of here. We'll have to try something else another day."  
  
"No." a voice said in front of them.  
  
"Well, it's Neo." Dr. S. said. "It's nice to see you. Did you accomplish your mission?"  
  
"No." Neo said.  
  
The doctors looked at Neo. "Look, kid. Get out of the way. There is no way your father's are going to catch us."  
  
Neo looked at them and grinned. "Told you to get rid of me."  
  
Back to the pilots...  
  
All of the guys' Gundams landed near where they saw Neo land.  
  
Heero got out of his Gundam and looked around. "Where is Rei?"  
  
"We told them to get out right after Professor G. called us." Duo replied as he started to get out.  
  
Suddenly, the guys saw another Wing Zero land and Rei got out.  
  
"Onna? Where is Mingh Loh?" Wufei asked.  
  
Rei was silent.  
  
Wufei walked up to her. "Where is she?!"  
  
Rei looked at Wufei. "I went left, she went right."  
  
"Right?" Quatre asked. "That's where the mine's were, right?"  
  
Rei went silent again.  
  
"The chances that..." Quatre tried to say. "Sorry Wufei."  
  
Wufei looked at the pilots. "She is strong! I know she survived!"  
  
"She couldn't survive shooting them down one at a time. I don't think I could." Trowa remarked.  
  
Wufei just stood silent.  
  
Heero looked at Wufei and motioned for the other's to leave him.  
  
"Well, what should we do?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Find Neo. There is nothing we can do for his daughter." Heero replied.  
  
The pilots and their children left Wufei and started walking. They called out Neo's name.  
  
"Yo, kid!" Duo shouted.  
  
"Hello, Neo?" Quatre shouted.  
  
"Get out here already Neo!" Michael shouted.  
  
Everyone continued shouting out Neo's name.  
  
Back to Neo...  
  
"Neo!" Neo heard behind him.  
  
"Dammit, you led them right to us!" Dr. S. shouted at Neo.  
  
Neo just grinned evilly. "It's not them you should worry about." Neo looked the scientists straight in the eyes.  
  
"Oh, wow..." Professor G. said in awe. "He looks..."  
  
"Like Heero Yuy." Dr. S. replied. "In a bad mood."  
  
To the guys a little while later...  
  
"Hey, I see your spooky kid up ahead!" Duo shouted to Heero. All the guys looked ahead.  
  
"Neo!" everyone called out.  
  
Neo just leaned against a fence with a bloody pencil while the pilots moved toward him.  
  
"What are you doing back here, Neo?" Michael asked him.  
  
Neo looked at his pencil. "To see the scientists."  
  
The pilots noticed his pencil.  
  
"Did you actually kill'em?!" Duo shouted.  
  
Neo just pointed to the fence behind him.  
  
The guys jumped the fence. They saw the scientists tied up with a rope, tied into a bow. The guys breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"You're so lucky, Heero. If Relena's son did kill them, you would be in so much trouble!" Duo said to Heero.  
  
Heero ignored Duo.  
  
Quatre jumped back over the fence. He looked at Neo's pencil. "Why are you holding a bloody pencil?"  
  
Neo looked back at him. "Professor G. didn't listen very well."  
  
Quatre just slowly backed away from Neo. He grabbed Dominic's hand and walked away.  
  
Neo just grinned.  
  
"What's wrong?" Heero asked Duo.  
  
"The time's getting closer for the asteriod's to strike isn't it?" Duo asked.  
  
Heero shook his head yes.  
  
"Then we'd better get going!" Duo shouted. "So, what should we do these scientists?"  
  
Heero looked at them. "I just have my knife. That's messy."  
  
Duo looked at the others. "Well, does anyone have just a gun or something?"  
  
"A gun? What do you want a gun for?!" Michael said.  
  
The guys looked over and saw the kids watching them over the fence.  
  
"Umm, well...Okay, now what?" asked Duo.  
  
Heero thought about it, but suddenly realized he knew this area. He also knew what was near this neighborhood. "I'll take care of it. Take the kids and get out, I'll be back soon."  
  
Duo and Trowa shook their heads and jumped back over the fence.  
  
Heero looked at the doctors. I've wanted to do this for a long time...  
  
The guys walked back over to Wufei.  
  
Duo looked at Wufei. "Hey, Wufei. We're going to leave now."  
  
Wufei just stood silent.  
  
"Don't die here, Wufei. It wouldn't be honorable." Trowa responded as he put Jimmy into his Gundam.  
  
Wufei didn't answer.  
  
To Heero...  
  
"Alright, Mr. Yuy. I just need to you to sign here on the dotted line." a lady said.  
  
Heero signed the piece of paper. "Are you sure you can handle them?"  
  
"Oh, sir! We specialize in taking care of these 'special people'." the lady answered.  
  
Heero walked up to the scientists who were in muzzles and straight jackets. "Make sure you watch this one here." Heero said pointing to Professor G. "He's the wildest. He even stabbed himself with a pencil."  
  
"Yes sir, I hope to see you around!" the lady said happily.  
  
Heero grinned to himself. Not likely...  
  
Heero went inside of the building and looked at the sign. Hopes and Dreams: Mental Institution for the Elderly.  
  
Heero just smiled to himself. Finally home where they belong.  
  
Heero walked over to his Gundam. He saw Neo waiting by it.  
  
Heero looked at Neo. Neo glared at Heero.  
  
The wind rustled through Neo's hair as he continued glaring at his father.  
  
Heero knew he would have to be the first one to talk. "Neo, hop in. It's a time machine so don't make a fuss."  
  
Neo continued to glare at Heero. "I will never trust you."  
  
Heero looked back at Neo. "That will change one day."  
  
Neo looked back at Heero. "Don't bet on it."  
  
Heero thought back to Relena's conversation. Please... if I even held his hand he would threaten to kill me.  
  
Neo finally succumbed because he didn't want to die, and time was drawing near. He got into the Gundam.  
  
"That's my seat." Heero said.  
  
Neo just glared at Heero.  
  
"Okay, take it." Heero said sitting in the left seat. Neo moved the lever and away they went.  
  
Wufei just watched as Heero flew away in Wing Zero. He started to slowly walk toward his gundam when he heard something through his intercom.  
  
"Hello! Is anyone down there anymore?! Hello?! Any of you stupid otokos?!" he heard a voice shout.  
  
Wufei stood completely dumbfounded. Then he ran to Nataku. "Mingh Loh!" he shouted through the intercom.  
  
"It's about time!" Mingh Loh shouted. "Where did you land?!"  
  
Wufei gave her the coordinates.  
  
He looked up at the sky, and soon saw Mingh Loh's Nataku coming.  
  
When she landed she opened her door. "Is Neo alright?!"  
  
Wufei ran up to her. "Onna! You can never, ever come with me in a Gundam again, do you hear me?!"  
  
"What's wrong with you?" she asked.  
  
Wufei looked at her. "Onna, how did you survive?!"  
  
"Mingh Loh put her hands on her hips. "Don't you remember?! The icicles dad!"  
  
Wufei thought about it for a second. "That's right, I did teach you that trick!"  
  
Mingh Loh looked at her father cross. "You haven't answered me! Is Neo alright?"  
  
Wufei looked at his daughter and smiled. "Yes, now get back in your Gundam. It's time to go home."  
  
Wufei and Mingh Loh both got into their Gundams and pushed their levers. 


	20. Epilogue

I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!  
  
This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!  
  
The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.  
  
By: Msmelanie  
  
Epilogue:  
  
Christmas Morning...  
  
"Wake up, Duo! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Michael shouted as he started jumping on Duo's bed. "Wake up, already!"  
  
Duo moaned. "It's 6:30 Michael! Go to sleep!"  
  
"It's Christmas though, so you have to wake up!" Michael shouted.  
  
"Will you please make your kid be quiet, Duo?" Quatre asked sleepily. Suddenly he felt something hit his stomach.  
  
"It's Christmas! Get up, Quatre!" shouted Dominic.  
  
Neo and Rei waited by the door. they were playing paper, rock, scissors to see who got to wake up Heero. Rei won.  
  
Rei went over to Heero. "Dad?"  
  
Heero grumbled from underneath the covers. "We're not getting up."  
  
"Okay." Rei replied. Rei grabbed a corner of Heero's blanket and crawled in with him.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Heero said as Rei snuggled up to him.  
  
"I want to stay in bed with you until you and the others get up." Rei replied.  
  
Heero immediately got up. He hit Duo and got him up. "Everyone get up." Heero said as he grabbed his robe.  
  
"It's too early." Wufei replied.  
  
"No, get up! If not, I'll drag you out of bed myself." Heero replied as he looked at his daaughter who crawled out of his bed.  
  
"Not fair." moaned Duo.  
  
Heero looked at Duo. "I'll tell Hilde about you cussing in front of Michael."  
  
"Huh?!" Duo shouted "I'm up!"  
  
Eventually, Heero found an excuse to get everyone up.  
  
The kids and the dads came down the stairs...  
  
"Where are your mothers?" Duo asked.  
  
"Are you kidding?!" Michael replied. "If we got them up this early, they would be mad!"  
  
"What?!" Duo shouted. "Then why did you-"  
  
"Can you fix us some hot chocolate?" Michael asked Duo.  
  
Duo groaned.  
  
"Can you plug the lights in too?" Dominic asked Quatre.  
  
"Did you only get us up to do stuff for you?!" Wufei shouted.  
  
Mingh Loh shook her head yes. "Could you start a fire?"  
  
A couple of hours later...  
  
"Hey, kids!" Relena said as she came downstairs. "You ready to unwrap presents?"  
  
All the kids shouted yes. Dorothy passed out the presents.  
  
"Who wants to go first?"  
  
"I want to?!" Michael shouted. Michael began unwrapping his gifts. "Ooh, the complete collection of the first season DBZ!"  
  
Hilde laughed. "Do you like it?"  
  
"Hell, yeah!" Michael said.  
  
Hilde looked at her son "Michael, where did you learn-"  
  
"Who's next!" Duo interrupted.  
  
"I am!" Dominic said as he unwrapped his gift. "Sweet, a violin!" shouted Dominic.  
  
"Quatre picked it out." Dorothy replied.  
  
"My turn." Jimmy said as he unwrapped his gift. "A microphone?"  
  
"Yes!" Catherine said. "Whenever you need to make your point across and the others aren't listening, you can make yourself heard!"  
  
"Thank you mother." Jimmy replied.  
  
"Don't thank me, thank Trowa! He thought of it!" Catherine said.  
  
Jimmy just gave Trowa a look that said 'thank you'.  
  
Trowa gave a look back that said 'your welcome'.  
  
"Your turn, you two." Relena smiled sweetly at her children.  
  
Rei unwrapped her present. "A new teddy bear?"  
  
"The other one's getting kind of ragged honey." Relena replied. "Heero insisted."  
  
Rei looked at her new teddy bear and her old teddy bear. She threw the new one behind her.  
  
"I told you." Relena replied. Heero just looked at her. He handed Rei a different present.  
  
"New crayons." she smiled as she opened up her present.  
  
Neo opened his present. Drawing pad, alright! "Thank you, mommy!"  
  
"Don't thank me, Heero picked it out." Relena replied.  
  
Neo looked at Heero.  
  
"Well, what do you say honey?" Relena said.  
  
"It's Mingh Loh's turn." Neo replied.  
  
"Okay, my turn! My turn!" Mingh Loh shouted. She opened up her present. "A red and blue sweater!"  
  
"Well, since it's Christmas." her mother replied.  
  
The kids went upstairs to play with their new toys. The guys were about to leave when...  
  
"Wait! You have presents too!" Hilde shouted.  
  
"I have a present!" Duo shouted. "Where?!"  
  
"Here, silly!" Hilde said as she brought out a present form way behind the tree. "Open it!"  
  
Duo rushed down the stairs and grabbed his gift. "Oh, yeah! I missed this thing!" he said as he put his new black cap on.  
  
The guys came down the stairs.  
  
"I had no clue what to get you, so I got this." Dorothy said as she gave a gift to Quatre.  
  
Quatre opened his gift. "Umm...a tea set?"  
  
"Duo said you wanted one." Dorothy replied.  
  
Quatre glared at Duo.  
  
Wufei went over and opened his gift. "A katana!" He swooped it through the air.  
  
"Yes, well..." Mae Linh said. "I remembered that day we went shopping you missed your old one."  
  
"Here." Catherine said as she handed her present to Trowa.  
  
"A microphone?" Trowa said as he looked at his gift.  
  
"I thought you could use one too." Catherine replied.  
  
Trowa looked at Heero and put the microphone up to his mouth. HEY HEERO, COME GET YOUR PRESENT. Trowa looked back at his gift. "That packs a punch."  
  
Heero strolled over to Relena. Relena handed him the gift.  
  
Heero started to open his gift. Oh please don't make it an embarrasing sweater... Heero looked down at his gift.  
  
"Heero, do you like it?" Relena asked.  
  
He held up a green sweater with a cat playing with a ball of yarn on it. He moaned.  
  
"Neo said you'd like it." Relena replied.  
  
"Yeah." Heero replied looking at the grinning Neo.  
  
"Now next year, we're expecting gifts too you guys." Dorothy replied.  
  
The girls just laughed while the guys looked at each other.  
  
Then the kids came running back downstairs.  
  
"Let's go play in the snow!" Michael replied. "We're all bundled up!"  
  
"Only if your fathers go." Relena replied.  
  
"Okay! Let's go, Duo!" Michael shouted.  
  
"Hilde, it's too cold! It's too early! I want to go back to bed!" moaned Duo.  
  
"Duo, take your son outside for a little while." Hilde said as she sat down on the couch.  
  
"Let's go dad!" Rei said as she walked to Heero. Heero grumbled but followed her outside.  
  
Neo looked at his dad only wearing a robe. What an idiot...  
  
"Quatre, let's go!" Dominic shouted as he laughed and grabbed Quatre's hand.  
  
"Can't I even get dressed first?!" Quatre shouted while he was dragged out.  
  
"Father, let's go!" Mingh Loh shouted. Wufei grumbled but followed Mingh Loh.  
  
Jimmy looked at Trowa. Trowa grabbed Jimmy's hand and went outside.  
  
"I need to get used to this neighborhood." Relena replied as she got up and looked out the window.  
  
"I know it's a little strange." Catherine replied. "But we can be ourselves, and the guys don't have to worry about changing their appearances. Besides, after how the guys treated manager for not watching the children closer, and blackmailing us, we just couldn't stay on Refuge Street.  
  
"Still..." Dorothy replied. "It's a strange neighborhood."  
  
"Hey!" Duo asked Duo. "What are you doing?"  
  
Duo looked at Duo. "Playing with my kid."  
  
Heero came over to Duo. "I want to play too, daddy!"  
  
Duo looked at Heero. "Calm down, Heero! We're going home!  
  
Heero shouted at his dad. "Hey, would you to tell Noin to quit poking me?!"  
  
The real Duo looked at the real Heero. "Did we really have to move to this bizarre neighborhood?"  
  
Quatre laughed. "Actually, this is a great place. No one would suspect the real Gundam pilots to live in a worshipping neighborhood. Besides, it's nice to see not everyone thought we were traitors."  
  
"Still...everyone looks like us, and everyone uses our names! Couldn't they show allegiance to us without taking our identities?"  
  
"Well, would you rather cut that stupid braid of yours and dye your hair blonde?!" Wufei shouted at Duo.  
  
"No!!" Duo yelled. "I-I think I can get used to this neighborhood."  
  
The pilots just watched a father named Duo taking his children, Heero and Noin, away into their house next door.  
  
From a distance...  
  
Dr. J watched the real Gundam pilots playing in the snow with their kids. Ingenious idea staying in this type of neighborhood pilots. Dr. J. watched as the Gundam guys were throwing snowballs back and forth with their children laughing. Could they have finally found happiness? Dr. J. watched as he saw Duo get hit square in the nose by Michael. The doctor laughed. Well, as close as they are ever going to get. Dr. J. wrapped his coat tighter around himself and quietly left the place the pilots could finally call home.  
  
  
  
Author's note: Thank you so much for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any comments, or questions feel free to e-mail me, okay? 


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